Rostral Wulst in passerine birds. I. Origin, course, and terminations of an avian pyramidal tract

An avian “pyramidal tract” was defined in zebra finches and green finches by making injections of neuronal tracers into the hyperstriatum accessorium (HA) of the rostral Wulst. Extratelencephalic projections of rostral HA traveled in the septomesencephalic tract (TSM) and gave rise to nuclear‐specific terminal fields in the precerebellar medial spiriform nucleus of the posterior thalamus, the red nucleus in the mesencephalon, the medial pontine nucleus in the pons, and the subtrigeminal, external cuneate, cuneate, gracile, and inferior olivary nuclei in the medulla. Extensive but more diffuse terminal fields were also present in the stratum cellulare externum of the posterior hypothalamus, the central periaqueductal gray, the prerubral field, and the lateral and ventrolateral tegmentum of the pons and medulla. There was also a sparse projection to the dorsal thalamic nucleus intermedius ventralis anterior, which supplies the somatosensory input to the rostral Wulst, and distinct projections to the intercollicular region surrounding the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus, where they partly overlapped the projections of the dorsal column nuclei. Projections from HA to the cerebellum via the TSM are described separately. In the brainstem the ventral ramus of TSM was situated ventral to the medial lemniscus at the base of the brain, entered the spinal cord in the inner margin of the lateral funiculus, predominantly ipsilaterally, and terminated bilaterally but predominantly contralaterally in the medial part of the base of the dorsal horn of the upper six or seven cervical segments. After injections of tracers into putative targets, numerous retrogradely labeled cells were found in the rostral HA, predominantly ventrally. The results confirm the presence of a major descending fiber system in passerine birds that resembles in its brainstem course and several of its terminations the pyramidal tract of mammals. The reciprocal projections of HA with the hypothalamus suggest that rostral HA may also incorporate neuronal components that in mammals would be considered parts of prefrontal cortex. J. Comp. Neurol. 416:429–450, 2000.

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