Musculotopic organization of the facial motor nucleus in Macaca fascicularis: a morphometric and retrograde tracing study with cholera toxin B-HRP

Morphometric and retrograde tracing methods were used to determine the location and number of motoneurons innervating individual facial muscles in Macaca fascicularis. Intramuscular injections of the cholera toxin B subunit-horseradish peroxidase conjugate produced discrete labeling patterns in the ipsilateral facial motor nucleus with good definition of somata and their processes. The facial nucleus extended rostrocaudally in the pons for about 2 mm, varying in shape and cross-sectional area along this axis. Motoneurons were clustered in subnuclei, but their boundaries were not sharp and they were not segregated by fiber bundles. The length, number, and area of subnuclei varied with rostrocaudal location. Retrograde labeling patterns revealed that individual muscles were innervated by longitudinal columns of motoneurons with each muscle region represented at all rostrocaudal levels of its column. The columns began at different rostrocaudal levels and varied in length. Columns for closely related muscles, such as the orbicularis oris and mentalis of the lower lip, tended to overlap, whereas columns for disparate muscles, such as the perioral and orbital, did not overlap. The dendritic processes of most motoneurons branched extensively among several different columns or subnuclei. Some dendrites extended outside of the nucleus into the surrounding tegmentum. Mean soma diameter (10.4-42.2 microns) was distributed unimodally, reflecting the absence of gamma motoneurons and lack of muscle spindles in the facial muscles. Large and small motoneurons were found in all regions of the nucleus, but the largest ones were located caudally and innervated muscles of the upper and lower lip. The perioral muscles also had more neurons, longer columns, and a lower cell density than the other muscle groups examined. These features may reflect the functions of the perioral muscles in facial expression and vocalization.