Organization of diencephalic projections from the spinal trigeminal nucleus oralis: An anterograde tracing study in the rat

International audienceThe organization of the efferent projections from the spinal trigeminal nucleus oralis (Sp5O) to the dienceph-alon was studied in the rat using the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin. The present study confirms the existence of trigemino-thalamic pathways originating from the Sp5O and details their distribution. The main diencephalic targets of the Sp5O are the ventral posterome-dial thalamic nucleus (VPM), the posterior thalamic nuclei (Po) and the ventral part of the zona incerta (ZIv), contralat-erally, and the parvicellular part of the ventral posterior tha-lamic nucleus (VPpc), bilaterally. The distribution of these projections varies according to the dorso-ventral location of the injection sites: the dorsal part of the Sp5O projects to the medial part of the VPM and the Po, and to the caudal part of the ZIv, as well as to the VPpc. The ventral part of the Sp5O projects to the lateral part of the VPM and the Po and to the rostral part of the ZIv. These results suggest that the tri-gemino-diencephalic pathways originating from the Sp5O are involved in the processing of gustatory and somatosensory information