The spinal segmental and preganglionic projections from the brainstem in relation to the chicken cloaca

Descending projections from the brainstem to the sympathetic and parasympathetic regions of the chicken spinal cord were investigated by means of the WGA-HRP method. The segmental and preganglionic injections of WGA-HRP were made into spinal segments 20-23 and 30-33 which were sympathetically and parasympathetically related to the cloaca, respectively. After injections of a large amount of WGA-HRP into each level of segments 20-23 and 30-33, the labeled SP-neurons (segmental projection neurons) were distributed mainly in the ventral half of the medulla in both cases. The distribution of these labeled neurons extended mainly to the central (20-23 segmental injections) and the lateral (30-33 segmental injections) tegmental regions of the pons. In the mesencephalon, some SP-neurons were found in the dorsomedial reticular formation and the dorsal midline area, in addition to the Ru in both cases. By iontophoretic microinjections of WGA-HRP into the preganglionic regions of these segments, the labeled preganglionic projection neurons (PP-neurons) were found in the ventromedial part of the medulla. Both distributions of the labeled PP-neurons projecting to the sympathetic and parasympathetic regions were similar in the medulla. In the pons, although the sympathetic PP-neurons were found in the ventromedial pontine tegmentum, most of the parasympathetic PP-neurons were found in the dorsolateral tegmentum, e.g., the LoC-SC region. In the mesencephalon, a few sympathetic PP-neurons were found in the midline area ventromedial to the EW, but no parasympathetic PP-neurons were observed in the mesencephalon.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)