Reorganization of the vestibulothalamic projections in lesions to the interpositus nucleus of the cerebellum and the vestibular nucleus of Deiters

The potential for plastic reorganization in the vestibulothalamic system was studied in adult cats. Preliminary (three months) lesioning of the contralateral nucleus interpositus of the cerebellum or the lateral vestibular nucleus of Deiters led to reorganization of vestibulothalamic projections with formation of ipsilateral projections to the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus from the nuclei of the vestibular complex, along with changes in the normal representation of the contralateral projections of the vestibular complex to this thalamic nucleus. The distribution and morphological composition of cells in the vestibular nuclei forming the new projections to the ventrolateral nucleus of the thalamus were studied. __________ Translated from Rossiiskii Fiziologicheskii Zhurnal imeni I. M. Sechenova, Vol. 93, No. 11, pp. 1275–1284, November, 2007.