Tsai T C, Wu C H, Wen C Y, Shieh J Y
Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei.
Acta Anat (Basel). 1993;148(1):42-8. doi: 10.1159/000147521.
With the method of retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase, the present study demonstrated a topographical representation of the peripheral branches of the facial nerve within the rat facial nucleus. The labelled neurons relating to the different peripheral branches were characterized morphometrically with the aid of an image analyser system. While the results were in general agreement with the work of other investigators, a striking difference was observed in this study with respect to the spatial distribution of the labelled neurons of the cervical branch. In the latter, the cells of origin were derived from the dorsal parts of the lateral and intermediate division of the facial nucleus. The present study further demonstrated that the motoneurons giving rise to the respective peripheral branches of the facial nerve varied considerably in cell size. Thus, the neurons of the posterior auricular and the mental branches were significantly larger than those of the nasolabial and zygomatico-orbital branches. Another significant finding in this study was that the neurons supplying the mental branch were predominantly spindle-shaped. It is concluded that the heterogeneity in size and shape of the motoneurons in the facial nucleus is related to the topographical representation of the peripheral branches of the facial nerve.
本研究采用辣根过氧化物酶逆行运输法，证实了大鼠面神经核内面神经外周分支的拓扑学表征。借助图像分析系统，对与不同外周分支相关的标记神经元进行了形态计量学特征分析。虽然结果总体上与其他研究者的工作一致，但本研究在颈支标记神经元的空间分布方面观察到了显著差异。在颈支中，起源细胞来自面神经核外侧和中间部分的背侧。本研究进一步表明，支配面神经各外周分支的运动神经元在细胞大小上有很大差异。因此，耳后支和颏支的神经元明显大于鼻唇支和颧眶支的神经元。本研究的另一个重要发现是，支配颏支的神经元主要呈纺锤形。得出的结论是，面神经核中运动神经元大小和形状的异质性与面神经外周分支的拓扑学表征有关。
