Do craniocervical and jaw motor nuclei receive input from the same population of reticular premotor neurons? A double labeling tracing study in the mallard (Anas platyrhynchos).

As part of a study concerning the organization of premotor areas in the medullary reticular formation in birds we used a fluorescent retrograde double labeling technique to localize the premotor neurons of the trigeminal (mV) and supraspinal motor nucleus (SSp). Diamidino Yellow injections in mV and Fast Blue injections in SSp demonstrated that mV and SSp do not share premotor neurons, but the premotor neurons form a mixed population in the ventromedial part of the parvocellular reticular formation.