The length of cerebellar parallel fibers in chicken and rhesus monkey

The cerebellar parallel fibers, which course through the molecular layer parallel to the long axes of the cortical folds known as folia, originate from ascending granule cell axons and relay the mossy fiber input to dendrites of Purkinje cells. Purkinje cell axons in the cerebellar white matter collect into sheets or zones oriented at right angles to the folia. Each of these zones, which are approximately 0.5-1 mm wide, innervates a different portion of the deep cerebellar and the vestibular nuclei. An experimental light microscopic study was carried out to determine the maximal length of parallel fibers in long folia of avian and primate cerebellar cortex. With a fine surgical knife, vermal folia were cut perpendicular to their long axes in four adult White Leghorn hens and in three adult rhesus monkeys deeply anesthetized with sodium pentobarbital. The animals were Killed 3-5 days after the operation. Sections of the transected folia were stained with the Fink-Heimer or the DeOlmos-Ingram methods, which revealed the anterogradely degenerated parallel fibers as darkly stained dots. In both species, the pattern of parallel fiber degeneration in the molecular layer had a trapezoidal configuration with the shorter base bordering the Purkinje cell layer and the longer base bordering the pia mater. In both species, the length of parallel fibers averaged approximately 6 mm, although the range was 4-8 mm in chickens and 4.8-6.6 mm in monkeys.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)