Anterior and posterior oral cavity responsive neurons are differentially distributed among parabrachial subnuclei in rat.

The responses of single parabrachial nucleus (PBN) neurons were recorded extracellularly to characterize their sensitivity to stimulation of individual gustatory receptor subpopulations (G neurons, n = 75) or mechanical stimulation of defined oral regions (M neurons, n = 54) then localized to morphologically defined PBN subdivisions. Convergence from separate oral regions onto single neurons occurred frequently for both G and M neurons, but converging influences were more potent when they arose from nearby locations confined to the anterior (AO) or posterior oral cavity (PO). A greater number of G neurons responded optimally to stimulation of AO than to PO receptor subpopulations, and these AO-best G neurons had higher spontaneous and evoked response rates but were less likely to receive convergent input than PO-best G neurons. In contrast, proportions, response rates, and convergence patterns of AO- and PO-best M neurons were more comparable. The differential sensitivity of taste receptor subpopulations was reflected in PBN responses. AO stimulation with NaCl elicited larger responses than PO stimulation; the converse was true for QHCl stimulation. Within the AO, NaCl elicited a larger response when applied to the anterior tongue than to the nasoincisor duct. Hierarchical cluster analysis of chemosensitive response profiles suggested two groups of PBN G neurons. One group was composed of neurons optimally responsive to NaCl (N cluster); the other to HCl (H cluster). Most N- and H-cluster neurons were AO-best. Although they were more heterogenous, all but one of the remaining G neurons were unique in responding best or second-best to quinine and so were designated as quinine sensitive (Q+). Twice as many Q+ neurons were PO- compared with AO-best. M neurons were scattered across PBN subdivisions, but G neurons were concentrated in two pairs of subdivisions. The central medial and ventral lateral subdivisions contained both G and M neurons but were dominated by AO-best N-cluster G neurons. The distribution of G neurons in these subdivisions appeared similar to distributions in most previous studies of PBN gustatory neurons. In contrast to earlier studies, however, the external medial and external lateral-inner subdivisions also contained G neurons, intermingled with a comparable population of M neurons. Unlike cells in the central medial and ventral lateral subnuclei, nearly every neuron in the external subnuclei was PO best, and only one was an N-cluster cell. In conclusion, the present study supports a functional distinction between sensory input from the AO and PO at the pontine level, which may represent an organizing principle throughout the gustatory neuraxis. Furthermore, two morphologically distinct pontine regions containing orosensory neurons are described.