Superior colliculus connections with the extraocular motor nuclei in the cat

Direct and indirect projections from the cat superior colliculus to the extraocular motor nuclei were studied using the orthograde autoradiographic tracing method, the retrograde horseradish peroxidase technique, and Golgi methods. The results show that the superior colliculus projects to the central gray matter directly overlying the oculomotor complex. This projection arises almost entirely from the rostral third of the colliculus, and it terminates most heavily over the rostral half of the oculomotor complex. Dendrites of oculomotor cells extend into this tectal termination zone, making direct tecto-oculomotor contacts possible. Central gray cells within this termination zone project bilaterally to the abducens nuclei. It is proposed that the superior colliculus projection to the supraoculomotor central gray matter and the projection from the central gray matter to the abducens nuclei play a role in convergent eye movements. The superior colliculus projects lightly to a cell group directly ventrolateral to the trochlear nucleus. The superior colliculus sends a small direct projection to the contralateral abducens nucleus and a substantial projection to wide regions of the reticular formation that have been shown previously to project, in turn, to the abducens nucleus. Colliculus cells projecting to the abducens nucleus and adjacent reticular formation are located only in the caudal three-fourths of the colliculus, where they become increasingly concentrated at successively more caudal levels. It is proposed that the graded density of the cells of origin of this projection is the basic structural mechanism by which the colliculus generates horizontal foveating saccades of different amplitudes. Laminar analysis of the origin of all the superior colliculus projections to the extraocular motor regions described here revealed that they arise mostly from the stratum griseum intermedium.