Selective reinnervation of somatotopically appropriate muscles after facial nerve transection and regeneration in the neonatal rat.

The organization of the facial motor nucleus (FMN) has been examined after transection and regeneration of the facial nerve (FN) in neonatal and adult rats. In one series of experiments, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was applied bilaterally to the superior or inferior buccal ramus 5 months after neonatal FN transection. In another series of experiments, wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase conjugate was injected in selected vibrissae follicular muscles on both sides in animals surviving 5 months after FN transection at the neonatal or adult stage. The number and distribution of HRP-labeled cell bodies in the FMN after regeneration was compared with the contralateral side. On the uninjured side, labeled neurons were somatotopically organized. Ipsilateral to nerve injury the number of labeled cells was markedly reduced after neonatal nerve transection, but somatotopy was preserved. However, after nerve lesion at the adult stage, no significant loss of motoneurons occurred, but motor nucleus somatotopy was not maintained. Two alternative principal explanations are proposed for the re-establishment of the normal somatotopy after neonatal injury: that regenerating axons grow in a random fashion but inappropriate connections are subsequently eliminated or that regenerating axons of surviving neurons immediately follow a pathway leading to the appropriate muscle.