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The corticopontine projection in the cat I. Demonstration of a somatotopically organized projection from the primary sensorimotor cortex

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Summary

Small lesions (in some cases bilateral) were made in the cerebral primary sensorimotor region in altogether 21 adult cats and the ensuing degeneration in the pontine nuclei was studied with the silver impregnation methods of Nauta and Glees. Using thermocoagulation it was possible to obtain lesions restricted entirely to particular cortical regions (for example the “hindlimb region” in the posterior sigmoid gyrus). The main results are as follows:

  1. 1.

    All parts of the primary sensorimotor region send fibres to the pontine nuclei. The projections from the posterior part of the posterior sigmoid gyrus and the posterior part of the coronal gyrus are relatively scanty.

  2. 2.

    The cortical “motor” area (the anterior sigmoid gyrus and the anterior part of the coronal gyrus) and the “sensory” area (the posterior sigmoid gyrus and the posterior part of the coronal gyrus) do not project to identical pontine regions, although both projections are organized in principally the same way.

  3. 3.

    The “motor” and “sensory” areas both project in a somatotopical manner onto two longitudinally oriented sharply delimited columns. In both projections one column is located medial and one lateral to the longitudinal fibre bundles of the corticospinal and corticobulbar tracts. Within the medial columns the “hindlimb” is represented ventrally with “face” most dorsally, within the lateral columns the “hindlimb” is located most caudally, with “forelimb” and “face” successively more rostrally.

  4. 4.

    The present results are in agreement with physiological observations on the cerebrocerebellar relations, but show that the pontine projection from the primary sensorimotor cortex is organized in a more complex manner than hitherto assumed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anatomical Institute, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    Per Brodal

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  1. Per Brodal
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Brodal, P. The corticopontine projection in the cat I. Demonstration of a somatotopically organized projection from the primary sensorimotor cortex. Exp Brain Res 5, 210–234 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238665

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