Axon collaterals of pontine taste area neurons project to the posterior ventromedial thalamic nucleus and to the gustatory neocortex.

Retrograde axonal transport of fluorescent dyes was used to demonstrate collateral projections from neurons of the pontine taste area (PTA) to gustatory-responsive areas of the posterior ventromedial thalamic nucleus (VPM), and to the gustatory neocortex (GN) of the rat. Dual-labeled PTA neurons were reliably observed following application of two different fluorescent dyes to the GN and to VPM thalamus. Dye injections into the GN and into thalamic regions surrounding the VPM nucleus, the bed nucleus of stria terminalis or the infralimbic neocortex, did not result in dual-labeled cells within the PTA. This finding suggests that gustatory information may be relayed simultaneously and specifically to VPM thalamus and to the GN via collateral axons of PTA neurons.