Confirmatory evidence for a direct parasympathetic pathway to internal eye structures.

The hypothesis that a direct neural pathway exists between the midbrain and the intrinsic musculature was investigated. Wheat germ agglutinin labeled with HRP and WG-HRP were injected intraocularly into the ciliary muscle of rabbits and cynomolgus monkeys, and their retrograde movement was monitored. Sparse, but definite labeling was found in the AM nuclei, the EW nuclei, and Perlia's nucleus of the monkey, confirming the existence of a nonsynapsing pathway between intraocular structures and the midbrain in the primate.