Summary

Abstract

Recent investigations using retrograde and anterograde tracer methods have confirmed the results of prior studies showing that, in the cat, afferents to the cerebellar cortex arise from the pontine nuclei, the nucleus reticularis tegmenti pontis, the trigeminal nuclei, the vestibular nuclei, the perihypoglossal nuclei, the inferior olive, the lateral reticular nucleus, the paramedian reticular nucleus, and the external cuneate nucleus. In general, the studies using the more sensitive axoplasmic transport methods have provided new details concerning the origin and cortical termination of these afferents to the cerebellar cortex. In addition, the recent investigations have demonstrated that cerebellar cortical afferents arise from several brain stem nuclei which had not previously been shown to project to the cerebellar cortex, including the raphe nuclei, a lateral rhombencephalic tegmental cell group, the locus coeruleus, the main cuneate nucleus, the gracile nucleus, the nucleus of the solitary tract, the parabrachial nuclei, the paratrigeminal nucleus, and certain of the cranial nerve motor nuclei.