Origins of projections from the inferior colliculus to the cochlear nucleus in guinea pigs.

We used retrograde tracing techniques to examine the projections from the inferior colliculus to the cochlear nucleus in guinea pigs. Following injection of a retrograde tracer into one cochlear nucleus, labeled cells were found bilaterally in all subdivisions of the inferior colliculus. The majority of cells were located in the central nucleus and external cortex; relatively few cells were located in the dorsal cortex. Multipolar (stellate) cells were labeled in all subdivisions of the inferior colliculus. In the central nucleus, disk-shaped cells were also labeled. To determine whether individual collicular neurons send collateral projections to the cochlear nuclei on both sides, we injected different fluorescent tracers into left and right cochlear nuclei in the same animal. The inferior colliculi contained very few double-labeled cells, indicating that the projections to ipsilateral and contralateral cochlear nuclei originate from separate populations of cells. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.