Descending Projections from the Substantia Nigra and Retrorubral Field to the Medullary and Pontomedullary Reticular Formation.

We have investigated the projection from the substantia nigra to the pontomedullary reticular formation in the rat using both retrograde and anterograde neuroanatomical tracers. Injections of a conjugate of wheatgerm agglutinin with horseradish peroxidase into the medullary or pontomedullary reticular formation resulted in the retrograde labelling of a continuous band of cells extending from the caudal half of the dorsolateral substantia nigra into the retrorubral field. Injections of the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leukoagglutinin (PHA-L) into either the dorsolateral substantia nigra or the caudally adjacent retrorubral field revealed a descending projection to the lateral medullary and pontomedullary brainstem, which terminated mainly within the lateral (parvicellular) reticular formation. The anterograde PHA-L fibre labelling ran throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the parvicellular reticular formation and extended into the caudally continuous region, the medullary dorsal and medullary ventral reticular formation, where it tapered off. Also labelled, although more lightly, were the rostral and ventrolateral regions of the nucleus of the solitary tract and the magnocellular reticular formation. Electron microscopy established that the PHA-L-labelled fibres formed synaptic contacts with nerve cell bodies and dendrites in the parvicellular reticular formation. It is suggested that one role of this nigroreticular pathway might be to connect the basal ganglia with brainstem premotor neurons that influence orofacial musculature.