Intrinsic Neuronal Organization of the Vestibular Nuclear Complex in the Cat A Golgi Study

I. Introduction.- II. Material and Methods.- 1. Golgi Preparations.- 2. Material of Reference.- III. Observations.- 1. The Vestibular Nuclear Complex as seen in Thionine Stained (Nissl) and Silver Impregnated Sections (Bodian).- 2. The Vestibular Nuclear Complex as seen in Golgi Preparations.- A. Nerve Cells in the Vestibular Nuclear Complex.- a) The Lateral Vestibular Nucleus.- b) The Superior Vestibular Nucleus.- c) The Medial Vestibular Nucleus.- d) The Descending Vestibular Nucleus.- e) The Interstitial Nucleus of the Vestibular Nerve.- f) The Group x.- g) The Group z.- h) The Group y.- B. Branching Patterns of Afferent Fibres.- a) Primary Vestibular Fibres.- b) Cerebello-vestibular Fibres.- Hook Bundle.- Ipsilateral Cerebello-vestibular Fibres.- c) Spino-vestibular Fibres.- d) Reticulo-vestibular Fibres.- e) Descending Fibres from Higher Levels of the Brain.- C. Axon Terminals and Interneuronal Contacts.- a) Axo-somatic Contacts.- b) Axo-dendro-somatic Contacts.- c) Axo-dendritic Contacts.- IV. Discussion.- 1. Comments on Material and Methods.- 2. Delimitation and Subdivision of the Vestibular Nuclear Complex.- 3. Intrinsic Organization of the Vestibular Nuclear Complex.- a) Neuronal Architecture.- b) Aspects of Dendritic and Axonal Distribution.- c) Distribution and Branching Patterns of Afferent Fibres..- d) Terminal Fibres and Interneuronal Contacts.- V Summary and Conclusions.- References.