Central projections of the hamster superior laryngeal nerve.

The superior laryngeal nerve (SLN) is known to innervate taste buds on the epiglottis of several mammalian species. Because of an increasing interest in the physiology of the gustatory system of hamsters, the brainstem projections of the SLN were investigated in this species. Crystallized HRP was applied to the proximal portion of the cut SLN or to one of its five distal branches. Anterograde transganglionic transport of HRP revealed afferent fibers of the SLN projecting into the ipsilateral solitary tract (ST) from 0.3 to 3.0 mm caudal to the dorsal cochlear nucleus (DCN), with the major area of termination in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) between 0.6 and 1.6 mm caudal to DCN. Some afferent fibers crossed the midline approximately 2.0 mm caudal to DCN to terminate contralaterally within the NST. Efferent cell bodies were retrogradely labeled within the nucleus ambiguus (NA) and in and around the more rostral portions of NST. There were five identifiable distal branches of SLN, termed A1, A2, M1, M2 and P, from anterior to posterior. Afferent fibers were carried in A2 and P, whereas efferent fibers were evident in all five branches. The heaviest projection from the NA occurred in the two middle branches (M1 and M2) and that from the NST in the posterior branch (P). Afferent projections of the Xth cranial nerve, along with those from the VIIth and IXth, into the NST provide a neural substrate for the integration of sensory inputs related to a number of oral and respiratory reflexes.