Morphology of interneurones in pathways from group II muscle afferents in sacral segments of the cat spinal cord.

The morphology of 12 sacral interneurones with peripheral input from group II muscle afferents was analyzed after intracellular injection of horseradish peroxidase (HRP). The neurones were located in Rexed's laminae III-V overlying the pudendal (Onuf's) motor nucleus. The interneurones had medium sized elongated somata and dendrites projecting radially. All of the interneurones were funicular neurones and fell into two categories depending on whether their axons ran within the dorsal part of the lateral funiculus (DLF; n = 7) or within the ventral funiculus, or the ventral part of the lateral funiculus (VF or VLF; n = 4). The latter were located more rostrally. Within the DLF similar proportions of stem axons and secondary axonal branches descended and ascended. Within the VF and VLF all of the axons ascended. Collaterals of axons running in the DLF arborized primarily within the dorsal horn and the intermediate zone; none were found to approach the motor nuclei. In contrast, collaterals of axons running in the VF/VLF arborized in both the intermediate zone and the ventral horn and passed close to the motor nuclei. We conclude that sacral interneurones with group II input are morphologically nonhomogenous and that only those located most rostrally might have direct actions upon motoneurones. Both the axonal projections and the input (from group II but not from group I muscle afferents and from skin afferents) of sacral interneurones indicate that they are homologous to dorsal horn group II interneurones in the midlumbar segments. They appear, however, to form part of more local neuronal networks than their midlumbar counterparts.