Elsevier

Brain Research

Volume 4, Issues 2–3, March 1967, Pages 151-188
Brain Research

Cortical projections to the red nucleus and the brain stem in the rhesus monkey

https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(67)90004-2Get rights and content

Summary

The ascending and descending projections from the red nucleus and the cortical projections to the red nucleus were studied in a series of Rhesus monkeys by means of retrograde and antegrade degeneration techniques. In this material the cortical projections to the other brain stem cell groups were studied also.

It was found that when the cortical projections are viewed in a temporofrontal sequence, their terminal distribution in the brain stem tends to shift from dorsal to ventral and medial. Thus, the temporal, occipital, and caudal parietal areas project primarily to the superior colliculus and to auditory nuclei. The parietal, postcentral and precentral areas project to the dorsolateral mesencephalic tegmentum and the somatic sensory cell groups in the lower brain stem. The precentral and the rostrally adjacent frontal areas provide the bulk of the projections to the remainder of the tegmentum throughout the brain stem including the red nucleus. These cortical areas also give rise to projections to the deep layers of the superior colliculus and in addition represent the main source of the cortical projections to the center median-parafascicular complex. The cortical projections to the pars magnocellularis and the pars parvicellularis of the red nucleus were found to be topically organized and to possess a differential cortical origin. The pars magnocellularis, which appeared to be the main source of the rubrospinal projections, received cortical projections primarily from the precentral gyrus. The pars parvicellularis, which seems to project rostrally at least in its anterior half received projections primarily from the precentral gyrus, the rostrally adjacent frontal areas and the supplementary motor area. The pars parvicellularis, in addition, received some limited projections from the postcentral and parietal areas.

The functional significance of the above organization of the cortical projections to the brain stem has been discussed in the context of the organization of the intercortical projections and of the ascending and descending projections of the brain stem.

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      Indeed, as early as 1946 the mammalian superior colliculus was implicated in the ‘visual grasp reflex’ by Hess and colleagues based on the electrical stimulation of the colliculus in alert, behaving cats (Hess et al., 1946). In both the rodent and the monkey including the macaque monkey, the posterior neocortex gains access to the oculomotor generator in the brain stem via the superior colliculus, whereas the frontal cortex gains access to this region by way of direct projections, albeit the frontal cortex also innervates the superior colliculus directly (Fig. 7; note that the fronto-collicular projections are not illustrated; Barret et al., 2020; Benavidez et al., 2020; Comoli et al., 2012; Fries, 1984; Froudarakis et al., 2019; Ingle, 1973; Kunzle and Akert, 1977; Kuypers and Lawrence, 1967; Leichnetz, 1981; Lund, 1966; Sherman et al., 1979; Shook et al., 1990; Spatz et al., 1970; Stanton et al., 1988; Tehovnik et al., 1989). The superior colliculus of mammals is a seven-layered structure such that superficial layers (layers I to III) receive direct visual input whereas the intermediate and deep layers (layers IV to VII) receive strong input from the neocortex and they send motor projections into the brain stem (Ingle, 1973; Schiller and Tehovnik, 2015).

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    *

    Present address: Department of Anatomy, Medical School of Rotterdam, Rotterdam (The Netherlands).

    **

    Present address: University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford (Great Britain).

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