The lateral reticular nucleus: a precerebellar centre providing the cerebellum with overview and integration of motor functions at systems level. A new hypothesis.

The lateral reticular nucleus (LRN) is a major precerebellar centre of mossy fibre information to the cerebellum from the spinal cord that is distinct from the direct spinocerebellar paths. The LRN has traditionally been considered to provide the cerebellum with segregated information from several spinal systems controlling posture, reaching, grasping, locomotion, scratching and respiration. However, results are presented that show extensive convergence on a majority of LRN neurons from spinal systems. We propose a new hypothesis suggesting that the LRN may use extensive convergence from the different input systems to provide overview and integration of linked motor components to the cerebellum. This integrated information is sent in parallel with the segregated information from the individual systems to the cerebellum that finally may compare the activity and make necessary adjustments of various motor behaviours.