The ponto-cerebellar projection in the rat: differential projections to sublobules of the uvula.

Microinjections of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) were made in different sublobules of the uvula (lobule IX, a, b, and c of Larsell, 1952) of the cerebellar cortex in the rat. These injections resulted in retrograde labeling of cells located in the pontine nuclei. Sublobule IXa receives a predominant input from a single column of cells situated in a dorsointermediate position in the caudal pontine nuclei. Sublobules IXb and IXc receive a pontine projection from two different columns of cells, one medial and one lateral. The location of the labeled cells in the lateral part of the caudal pons suggests a topographic projection to the subdivisions of the uvula. Sublobule IXa receives a projection from a distinct dorsointermediate region and sublobule IXb and IXc receive a projection from partially overlapping ventral regions. The cells of origin in the medial pons are organized such that more dorsally located cells project to sublobule IXb and ventrally located cells project to sublobule IXb with extensive overlap. These differential patterns of projections to the sublobules of the uvula along with other data in the literature suggest that sublobule IXa may be involved with different functional correlates than sublobules IXb and IXc.