Morphology and distribution of the projection neurons in the cerebellum in a teleost, Sebastiscus marmoratus.

Cerebellar efferent neurons in a teleost, Sebastiscus marmoratus, were studied by means of the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) tracing and Golgi impregnation methods. The cerebellar efferents or eurydendroid neurons are classified into two types (A and B) on the basis of the morphology of the dendrites, intracerebellar distribution, and other afferent connections. Type A neurons form a cell cluster in the lobus caudalis and have one thick primary dendrite from which several branches with sparse but long spines extend into the molecular layer of the lobus caudalis. Type B neurons, observed in both the valvula and corpus cerebelli, have two or three primary dendrites running along the ganglion cell layer, and the distal dendritic branches are distributed in molecular layer perpendicularly to the cerebellar surface. Small spines are densely studded on the dendrites of type B neurons. Somata of type A and B neurons are located in and just beneath the ganglion cell layer. The cerebellum projects to the ipsilateral nucleus lateralis valvulae and torus longitudinalis and bilaterally, but mostly contralaterally to the nucleus ventromedialis thalami of Schnitzlein ('62), nucleus ruber, the vicinity of the oculomotor complex, torus semicircularis, and brainstem reticular formation. Type A neurons send axons primarily to the vicinity of the oculomotor complex and partly to the nucleus ventromedialis thalami and the nucleus ruber, whereas type B cells project to all main cerebellar targets. In addition, type B cells are organized topographically in the cerebellum in relation to the efferent targets in the brainstem.