Organization of ventrolateral periolivary cells of the cat superior olive as revealed by PEP-19 immunocytochemistry and Nissl stain.

Ventrolateral periolivary cell groups, through their descending projections to the cochlear nucleus (CN) and local projections to principal nuclei of the superior olive, may participate in brainstem mechanisms mediating such tasks as signal detection in noisy environments and sound localization. Understanding the function of these cell groups can be improved by increased knowledge of the organization of their synaptic inputs in relation to their cellular characteristics. Immunocytochemistry for PEP-19 (a putative calcium binding protein) reveals four patterns of immunolabeling within the ventrolateral periolivary region. Three of the patterns, which have distinct fiber and punctate labeling characteristics, help to define three subdivisions of the lateral nucleus of the trapezoid body (LNTB). The fourth pattern defines two other nuclei, the anterolateral periolivary nucleus (rostral) and the posterior periolivary nucleus (caudal), which display many immunoreactive cell bodies but little fiber and punctate labeling. One of the subdivisions of the LNTB contains large PEP-19 immunolabeled puncta arranged in pericellular nests. Analysis of Nissl-stained sections reveals a neuronal population that resembles globular cells of the ventral cochlear nucleus (VCN) and which colocalizes with pericellular nests of large immunolabeled puncta. Cell counts reveal that roughly 10,000 neurons constitute the cat ventrolateral periolivary region, 9,000 of which are found in the LNTB. Three-dimensional reconstructions of auditory brainstem nuclei clarify the complex spatial relationships among these structures.