A Review of Otolith Pathways to Brainstem and Cerebellum

Abstract: Our knowledge of otolith pathways is developing rapidly, but is still far from complete. Primary afferents from the sacculus and utricle terminate mainly in the lateral, inferior and caudal superior vestibular nuclei, and the ventral cerebellum, in particular the nodulus. Otolith signals descend via reticulo‐ and vestibulospinal pathways in the spinal cord to influence neck motoneurons and ascending proprioceptive afferents. Utricular information can reach the extraocular eye muscles via mono‐, di‐, and multisynaptic pathways, but saccular afferents probably only by multisynaptic pathways.

[1]  W. T. Thach,et al.  Brainstem and spinal projections of the deep cerebellar nuclei in the monkey, with observations on the brainstem projections of the dorsal column nuclei , 1983, Brain Research Reviews.

[2]  J. Simpson,et al.  Projections of individual purkinje cells of identified zones in the flocculus to the vestibular and cerebellar nuclei in the rabbit , 1994, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[3]  Y. Uchino.  Connections between otolith receptors and neck motoneurons. , 1997, Acta oto-laryngologica. Supplementum.

[4]  P. Brodal,et al.  The olivocerebellar projection in the monkey. Experimental studies with the method of retrograde tracing of horseradish peroxidase , 1981, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[5]  N. Ishizuka,et al.  Central course and terminal arborizations of single primary vestibular afferent fibers from the horizontal canal in the cat , 1982, Neuroscience Letters.

[6]  N. Isu,et al.  Properties of saccular nerve-activated vestibulospinal neurons in cats , 1996, Experimental Brain Research.

[7]  D L Robinson,et al.  Subcortical contributions to head movements in macaques. II. Connections of a medial pontomedullary head-movement region. , 1994, Journal of neurophysiology.

[8]  Yu Sato,et al.  Zonal organization of olivocerebellar projections to the uvula in rabbits , 1985, Brain Research.

[9]  A. Perachio,et al.  Distribution of vestibular afferents that innervate the sacculus and posterior canal in the gerbil , 1986, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[10]  R. Gacek.  The course and central termination of first order neurons supplying vestibular endorgans in the cat. , 1969, Acta oto-laryngologica. Supplementum.

[11]  U Büttner,et al.  Rostral fastigial nucleus activity in the alert monkey during three-dimensional passive head movements. , 1997, Journal of neurophysiology.

[12]  B. Bergström.  Morphology of the vestibular nerve. II. The number of myelinated vestibular nerve fibers in man at various ages. , 1973, Acta oto-laryngologica.

[13]  E. Mugnaini,et al.  Parasolitary nucleus: A source of GABAergic vestibular information to the inferior olive of rat and rabbit , 1998, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[14]  J H Anderson,et al.  Canal-otolith convergence on cat ocular motoneurons. , 1979, Progress in brain research.

[15]  H. Noda,et al.  Olivocerebellar and cerebelloolivary connections of the oculomotor region of the fastigial nucleus in the macaque monkey , 1989, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[16]  N. Barmack.  GABAergic Pathways Convey Vestibular Information to the Beta Nucleus and Dorsomedial Cell Column of the Inferior Olive , 1996, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[17]  N. Isu,et al.  Axonal projections of utricular afferents to the vestibular nuclei and the abducens nucleus in cats , 1995, Neuroscience Letters.

[18]  N. Isu,et al.  Sacculocollic reflex arcs in cats. , 1997, Journal of neurophysiology.

[19]  N H Barmack,et al.  Vestibular and visual climbing fiber signals evoked in the uvula-nodulus of the rabbit cerebellum by natural stimulation. , 1995, Journal of neurophysiology.

[20]  O. Oscarsson,et al.  Information carried by the spinocerebellar paths. , 1979, Progress in brain research.

[21]  Y. Chan,et al.  Response of medial medullary reticular neurons to otolith stimulation during bidirectional off-vertical axis rotation of the cat , 1996, Brain Research.

[22]  D. Haines,et al.  The inferior olive of a prosimian primate, Galago senegalensis. II. Olivocerebellar projections to the vestibulocerebellum , 1983, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[23]  C. Markham.  Anatomy and physiology of otolith-controlled ocular counterrolling , 1989 .

[24]  B J Hess,et al.  Spatial organization of linear vestibuloocular reflexes of the rat: responses during horizontal and vertical linear acceleration. , 1991, Journal of neurophysiology.

[25]  Yu Sato,et al.  Differential mossy fiber projections to the dorsal and ventral uvula in the cat , 1989, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[26]  T. Brandt,et al.  Ocular torsion and tilt of subjective visual vertical are sensitive brainstem signs , 1993, Annals of neurology.

[27]  G. Percheron,et al.  The primate motor thalamus , 1996, Brain Research Reviews.

[28]  N. Gerrits,et al.  Secondary vestibulocerebellar mossy fiber projection to the caudal vermis in the rabbit , 1989, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[29]  R. Parenti,et al.  The Projections of the Lateral Reticular Nucleus to the Deep Cerebellar Nuclei. An Experimental Analysis in the Rat , 1996, The European journal of neuroscience.

[30]  Utricular input to cat extraocular motoneurons. , 1997, Acta oto-laryngologica. Supplementum.

[31]  S. Watanabe,et al.  Cortical projections of otolith organs in the cat. , 1991, Acta oto-laryngologica. Supplementum.

[32]  G. Holstege.  Descending motor pathways and the spinal motor system: limbic and non-limbic components. , 1991, Progress in brain research.

[33]  A Berthoz,et al.  Synaptic connections to trochlear motoneurons determined by individual vestibular nerve branch stimulation in the cat. , 1973, Brain research.

[34]  O. Pompeiano,et al.  Resposes to static tilts of lateral reticular neurons mediated by contralateral labyrinthine receptors. , 1977, Archives italiennes de biologie.

[35]  N. Ishizuka,et al.  Morphology of single primary vestibular afferents originating from the horizontal semicircular canal in the cat , 1989, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[36]  H. Shojaku,et al.  Vestibular primary afferent projection to the cerebellum of the rabbit , 1993, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[37]  B. Cohen.  The Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex Arc , 1974 .

[38]  Topographical organisation within the lateral reticular nucleus mossy fibre projection to the c1 and c2 zones in the rostral paramedian lobule of the cat cerebellum , 1997, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[39]  H. Shojaku,et al.  Secondary vestibular cholinergic projection to the cerebellum of rabbit and rat as revealed by choline acetyltransferase immunohistochemistry, retrograde and orthograde tracers , 1992, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[40]  M. Carpenter,et al.  Afferent and efferent connections of the medial, inferior and lateral vestibular nuclei in the cat and monkey , 1983, Brain Research.

[41]  J. Bernard.  Topographical organization of olivocerebellar and corticonuclear connections in the rat—An WGA‐HRP study: I. Lobules IX, X, and the flocculus , 1987, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[42]  B. Yates,et al.  Responses of caudal medullary raphe neurons to natural vestibular stimulation. , 1993, Journal of neurophysiology.

[43]  I S Curthoys,et al.  Physiological and anatomical study of click-sensitive primary vestibular afferents in the guinea pig. , 1997, Acta oto-laryngologica.

[44]  Tadashi Kawasaki,et al.  Topographical distribution of Purkinje cells in the uvula and the nodulus projecting to the vestibular nuclei in cats , 1987, Brain Research.

[45]  W. F. Poon,et al.  An electrophysiological study of the sacculo-ocular pathways in cats. , 1975, The Japanese journal of physiology.

[46]  G. Paxinos,et al.  The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates , 1983 .

[47]  N. Isu,et al.  Monosynaptic and disynaptic connections in the utriculo-ocular reflex arc of the cat. , 1994, Journal of neurophysiology.

[48]  J. Büttner-Ennever,et al.  Patterns of Connectivity in the Vestibular Nuclei a , 1992, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[49]  T. Brandt,et al.  Thalamic infarctions , 1993, Neurology.

[50]  U. Büttner,et al.  Vestibular projections to the monkey thalamus: An autoradiographic study , 1979, Brain Research.

[51]  H Mittelstaedt,et al.  Somatic versus Vestibular Gravity Reception in Man , 1992, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[52]  A. Brodal,et al.  Experimental studies of commissural and reticular formation projections from the vestibular nuclei in the cat. , 1968, Brain research.

[53]  W. Precht,et al.  Short latency utricular and canal input to ipsilateral abducens motoneurons. , 1973, Brain research.

[54]  P. Strick,et al.  Cerebellar output channels. , 1997, International review of neurobiology.

[55]  Guldin Wo,et al.  Is there a vestibular cortex , 1998 .

[56]  D. Pandya,et al.  Anatomical investigation of projections from thalamus to posterior parietal cortex in the rhesus monkey: A WGA‐HRP and fluorescent tracer study , 1990, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[57]  J. Dickman,et al.  Differential central projections of vestibular afferents in pigeons , 1996, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[58]  O. Pompeiano.  Neck and macular labyrinthine influences on the cervical spino-reticulocerebellar pathway. , 1979, Progress in brain research.

[59]  O J Grüsser,et al.  Thalamic connections of the vestibular cortical fields in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri sciureus) , 1992, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[60]  N. Isu,et al.  Morphology of single afferents of the saccular macula in cats , 1998, Neuroscience Letters.

[61]  H. Fushiki,et al.  Topography and reciprocal activity of cerebellar Purkinje cells in the uvula-nodulus modulated by vestibular stimulation. , 1997, Journal of neurophysiology.

[62]  Y. Uchino,et al.  Excitatory and inhibitory inputs from saccular afferents to single vestibular neurons in the cat. , 1997, Journal of neurophysiology.

[63]  T. Brandt,et al.  Central vestibular syndromes in roll, pitch, and yaw planes: Topographic diagnosis of brainstem disorders , 1995 .

[64]  N. Gerrits,et al.  Organization of the Vestibulocerebellum , 1996, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[65]  R. Baughman,et al.  Cholinergic Innervation of the Cerebellum of the Rat by Secondary Vestibular Afferents , 1992, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.

[66]  N. Gerrits.  26 – Vestibular Nuclear Complex , 1990 .

[67]  N. Isu,et al.  Utriculoocular reflex arc of the cat. , 1996, Journal of neurophysiology.

[68]  N H Barmack,et al.  Responses to vertical vestibular stimulation of neurons in the nucleus reticularis gigantocellularis in rabbits. , 1995, Journal of neurophysiology.

[69]  M. Steriade.  Two channels in the cerebellothalamocortical system , 1995, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[70]  O. Grüsser,et al.  Cortico‐cortical connections and cytoarchitectonics of the primate vestibular cortex: A study in squirrel monkeys (Saimiri sciureus) , 1992, The Journal of comparative neurology.

[71]  Y. Uchino,et al.  Excitatory connections between neurons of the central cervical nucleus and vestibular neurons in the cat , 1997, Experimental Brain Research.