Projections from C2 and C3 nerves supplying muscles and skin of the cat neck: a study using transganglionic transport of horseradish peroxidase

Transganglionic transport of HRP has been used to trace the pathways and termination sites of cutaneous and muscle afferent axons entering from the C2 and C3 dorsal rami. The muscle afferent projection in the spinal cord is restricted and (apart from the ventral horn) largely confined to the intermediate gray matter. There is a muscle afferent projection to the ventrolateral main cuneate nucleus and a complex pattern of projection through the extent of the external cuneate nucleus. In contrast, the cutaneous spinal projection is abundant with extensive filling of axons in the tract of Lissauer and many termination sites in the lateral substantia gelatinosa. Axons enter the lateral gray matter of the cervical spinal cord from the dorsal columns and the dorsolateral funiculus and terminate in the lateral one-third of the dorsal horn as far rostral as the spinomedullary junction. Axons of the tract of Lissauer form a complex web around the dorsal horn and many penetrate rostrally to the region of the spinomedullary junction, where they terminate among clusters of interstitial cells on and close to the dorsal medullary surface. Cutaneous afferent axons from the dorsal columns turn into the main cuneate nucleus and enter a dense mass of HRP-reaction product which occupies the most ventrolateral part of the nucleus for its entire length.