The anterior pretectal nucleus (APT) and the zona incerta (ZI) are diencephalic nuclei that exert a strong inhibitory influence selectively in higher order thalamic relays. 
The anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) participates in nociceptive and antinociceptive mechanisms.
These included the ipsilateral inferior colliculus, anterior pretectal nucleus, mediodorsal thalamic nucleus, with regions in the pre-frontal, cingulated, ventral orbital and infra-limbic cortices, nucleus accumbens all exhibiting negative BOLD changes.
Autoradiographic labeling of brain slices with radioiodinated UII showed the presence of UII-binding sites in the lateral septum, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, medial amygdaloid nucleus, anteroventral thalamus, anterior pretectal nucleus, pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus, pontine nuclei, geniculate nuclei, parabigeminal nucleus, dorsal endopiriform nucleus, and cerebellar cortex.
Axons originating in the anterior pretectal nucleus (APT) innervated the proximal dendrites of relay cells via large GABAergic terminals with multiple release sites.
Previous studies have indicated that the thalamic nucleus submedius (Sm) and the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) are involved in the descending modulation of nociception.
This study examined whether different parts of the rat anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) may be involved in the spinal control of brief (tail flick test) or persistent (surgical incision of the plantar aspect of a hind paw) noxious inputs via activation of descending pathways.
The anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) participates in nociceptive process and controls spinal nociceptive inputs, and its integrity reduces the severity of the responses to persistent injury.
These new projections were found in the lateral posterior nucleus, the posterior limitans nucleus, the dorsal part of the anterior pretectal nucleus and the posterior and medial pretectal nuclei.
Although only a small change of VGluT2 immunoreactivity was observed in the contra- and ipsilateral suprachiasmatic nuclei, olivary pretectal nucleus, anterior pretectal nucleus, and posterior pretectal nucleus, moderate reduction of VGluT2 was found in these regions after bilateral enucleation.
The anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) participates in nociceptive processing and in the activation of central descending mechanisms of pain control.
We identified the anterior part of the pretectum as the human equivalent of the anterior pretectal nucleus in non-humans, including its two compact and reticular subdivisions.
Caudal VLG projections innervate the lateral posterior nucleus, the anterior pretectal nucleus, the intermediate and deep gray of the superior colliculus, the dorsal terminal nucleus, the midbrain lateral tegmental field, the interpeduncular nucleus, the ventral pontine reticular formation, the medial and lateral pontine gray, the parabrachial region, and the accessory inferior olive.
2) Two types of ascending fibers arise from SP5i: Type I fibers are thick and distribute to the Po and to other regions of the midbrain, i.e., the prerubral field, the deep layers of the superior colliculus, the anterior pretectal nucleus, and the ventral part of the zona incerta.
The anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) and the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) are involved in descending pathways that control noxious inputs to the spinal cord and participate in the normal physiological response to noxious stimulation.
Collateral projections were found in the superior colliculus, substantia nigra, red nucleus, anterior pretectal nucleus, and in the lateral, perifornical, dorsomedial, suprachiasmatic, and supraoptic hypothalamic nuclei.
The anterior pretectal nucleus, the deep layers of the superior colliculus, and the pontine nuclei are among the structures most often coinnervated.
Average increases ranged from 20 to 40% compared with controls and maximum values were detected in specific brain regions, such as the anterior pretectal nucleus, the anterior cingulate cortex and the nucleus accumbens.
Numerous NPY-ir neurons were present in the feline nucleus of the optic tract and in the anterior pretectal nucleus.
During formalin-induced pain, local glucose utilization rates in the CNS were bilaterally increased in the grey matter of the cervical spinal cord, in spinal white matter tracts and in several supraspinal structures, including portions of the medullary reticular formation, locus coeruleus, lateral parabrachial region, anterior pretectal nucleus, the medial, lateral and posterior thalamic regions, basal ganglia, and the parietal, cingulate, frontal, insular and orbital cortical areas. In formalin-injected rats, pretreated with anti-beta-endorphin, behavioural changes indicative of hyperalgesia (increased licking response) were found, which were paralleled by a significant enhancement of functional activity in the anterior pretectal nucleus and in thalamo-cortical systems.
OX2R mRNA is mainly expressed in cerebral cortex, nucleus accumbens, subthalamic and paraventricular thalamic nuclei, anterior pretectal nucleus.
Several studies have shown that the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) is involved in descending inhibitory pathways that control noxious inputs to the spinal cord and that it may participate in the normal physiological response to noxious stimulation.
A third group of cadherin-8-positive gray matter structures has functional connections with the cerebellum (superior colliculus, anterior pretectal nucleus, red nucleus, nucleus of posterior commissure, inferior olive, pontine, pontine reticular, and vestibular nuclei).
The pretectal area contained degenerated fibers which were widespread in (i) the nucleus of the optic tract, (ii) olivary pretectal nucleus, (iii) anterior pretectal nucleus, and (iv) the posterior pretectal nucleus.
The changes in the latency for tail withdrawal in response to noxious heating of the skin induced by microinjection of opioid or serotonergic agonists into the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) was studied in rats.
The anterior pretectal nucleus provides a dense projection to the ventral part of the zona incerta and receives a sparse reciprocal projection. An additional finding of this study is that one of the main sources of input to these incertotectal cells is the anterior pretectal nucleus.
The fourth group included nuclei free of labeling; these were areas that received the bulk of unimodal sensory/motor inputs (central inferior colliculus, pretectal optic nuclei, ventral medial geniculate nucleus, ventral anterior pretectal nucleus, dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, ventrobasal complex; zona incerta ventral, parafascicular thalamic nucleus) and are thus the most discriminative regarding specific modalities.
Structures involved in the descending analgesia systems, including the periaqueductal gray, locus ceruleus, and parabrachial area, nucleus raphe magnus, reticular formation, anterior pretectal nucleus, thalamus and cerebral cortex, and several components of the limbic system are described and the pathways and neurotransmitters utilized are mentioned.
We further revealed the presence of a substantial number of fibers in regions where glycine was not considered as a main inhibitory neurotransmitter, such as the pontine nuclei, the periaqueductal gray, the mesencephalic reticular formation, the anterior pretectal nucleus, the intralaminar thalamic nuclei, the zona incerta, the fields of Forel, the parvocellular parts of the paraventricular nucleus, the posterior hypothalamic areas, the anterior hypothalamic area, and the lateral and medial preoptic areas.
STT/SHT neurons were antidromically activated with currents < or = 30 microA from the medial lemniscus (ML), anterior pretectal nucleus (APt), posterior nuclear group and medial geniculate nucleus (Po/MG), and zona incerta in the thalamus and from the optic tract (OT), supraoptic decussation, or lateral area of the hypothalamus.
Less dense terminals were seen in the anterior pretectal nucleus, the zona incerta, and the centromedian nucleus of the thalamus.
The pretectal olivary nucleus was targeted by neurons in cortex of dorsomedial area 19, and the anterior pretectal nucleus was targeted by neurons in both dorsomedial 19 and area 7.
The anterior pretectal nucleus has been described as part of the visual pretectal complex. The efferents of the anterior pretectal nucleus have not been identified taking into account the different function of this nucleus in relation to the rest of the pretectal complex. In the study herein described, a sensitive anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin was used to trace the mesencephalic and diencephalic efferents of the anterior pretectal nucleus in the rat. These results show that the anterior pretectal nucleus projects principally to areas involved in somatosensory and motor control in a manner that permits sensory modulation at higher and lower levels of the brain. These connections may explain the antinociceptive and antiaversive effects of stimulating the anterior pretectal nucleus in freely moving animals..
Functional relationships between the anterior pretectal nucleus (APTN) and nociceptive dorsal horn neurones were investigated electrophysiologically in the anaesthetized rat.
In the same cases, many cell bodies containing HRP reaction product also were found 1) ipsilaterally in the motor cortex, anterior pretectal nucleus, and a restricted area of the caudal part of the substantia nigra pars reticulata; 2) contralaterally in the anterior and posterior interposed cerebellar nuclei as well as in a portion of the lateral cerebellar nucleus; and 3) bilaterally in the zona incerta, the posterior pretectal nucleus, the pedunculopontine tegmental nuclei, the spinal trigeminal nucleus, the dorsal column nuclei, and the spinal cord.
Ascending fibres project bilaterally to the intergeniculate leaflet, the ventral part of the lateral geniculate nucleus and ipsilaterally to the anterior pretectal nucleus.
The anterior pretectal nucleus has recently been implicated in the descending modulation of nociception. It is believed that at least part of the descending inhibitory effects of the anterior pretectal nucleus are mediated by reticulospinal cells of the ventrolateral medulla. The purpose of the present study was to trace the direct medullary projections of the anterior pretectal nucleus, to describe their topographical organization and to reveal the chemical nature of some of their putative target cells. Direct projections from the anterior pretectal nucleus to the ipsilateral rostral ventral medulla were found in all cases. A dense innervation of the dorsal inferior olive, the gigantocellular reticular nucleus pars ventralis and pars alpha and the ventral pontine reticular nucleus was found from all aspects of the anterior pretectal nucleus. Following tract-tracer injections into five distinct subregions of the anterior pretectal nucleus, the topographical organization of the projection was examined and the relatively highest density and most widespread projection was found to originate from the caudoventral part of the anterior pretectal nucleus. The existence of direct projections to the ventral medulla and pons correlates well with physiological data which showed that the descending, antinociceptive effects of the anterior pretectal nucleus are relayed via the rostral ventrolateral medulla. It is proposed that the rostral ventral medullary projections provide a path through which antinociceptive effects of the anterior pretectal nucleus are mediated to the spinal cord..
Furthermore, projections are traced to the ipsilateral brainstem, including two areas of the pretectal complex: (1) one in the NOT, extending in some cases to the adjacent lateral portion of the posterior pretectal nucleus (PPN), and (2) one in the pars compacta of the anterior pretectal nucleus (APNc).
Heterotopically transplanted neurons: (i) only rarely contact normal targets of the motor cortex; (ii) systematically project towards normal targets of the visual cortex (primary and secondary visual cortical areas, dorsal and ventral lateral geniculate nuclei, lateral dorsal and lateral posterior thalamic nuclei, anterior pretectal nucleus and superficial and intermediate layers of the superior colliculus); (iii) distribute fibers to structures normally receiving fibers from both motor and visual cortices (caudate-putamen, pontine nuclei), either exclusively into the visual cortico-recipient zone of the structure or into both visual and motor cortico-recipient zones.
It projected bilaterally to the caudate putamen, primarily ipsilaterally to the superior colliculus, anterior pretectal nucleus, and pontine nucleus, and mainly contralaterally to the oral part of the spinotrigeminal nucleus and the reticular formation around the facial nerve nucleus.
Weakly labeled neurons were observed in the striatum, nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, globus pallidus, entopeduncular nucleus, lateral hypothalamic area, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, medial habenular nucleus, anterior pretectal nucleus, Barrington's nucleus, Nucleus O, paragenual nucleus, trigeminal sensory complex, cochlear nuclei, dorsal motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve, dorsal cap of the inferior olive, spinal dorsal horn, and lamina X of the spinal cord.
Diencephalic areas showing immunolabeling included the medial habenula and anterior pretectal nucleus, with less labeling in the ventral lateral geniculate.
In contrast, the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) has no inputs from retina and has few outputs to visual accessory nuclei.
Following monocular injection of either horseradish peroxidase or rhodamine-B-isothiocyanate, four pretectal nuclei, including the nucleus of the optic tract, posterior pretectal nucleus, anterior pretectal nucleus and the olivary pretectal nucleus, could be identified to receive direct retinal input in both pigmented and albino strains.
Electrical stimulation of the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) elicits antinociception by inhibiting the responses of spinal multireceptive neurones to noxious stimuli.
The projections of the trigeminal (V) sensory nuclei (VSN) and the dorsal column nuclei (DCN) to the anterior pretectal nucleus (APT) of the rat were investigated by the use of anterograde and retrograde transport of wheat-germ agglutinin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP).
The present study showed that the inhibitory effect on the tail-flick reflex (TF) of stimulating the deep mesencephalic nucleus (DpMe) was very similar to that produced by stimulation of the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN).
This study examined the effects of anterior pretectal nucleus (APT) conditioning stimulation on the activity of 92 functionally identified somatosensory brainstem neurons in the trigeminal (V) subnuclei oralis, interpolaris and caudalis of anesthetized rats.
Electrical stimulation (35 microA rms/15 s) of the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) inhibits the spinal reflex of the tail-flick (TF) to noxious heat in unanaesthetised rats.
The retinal projections to the anterior pretectal nucleus were investigated using the anterograde transport of tritiated amino acids or horseradish peroxidase. Both Nissl and myelin stained tissue were used to identify the anterior pretectal nucleus and tissue containing labelled terminals was analyzed in each of the 3 stereotaxic planes.
The efferent and afferent connections of the dorsal part of the anterior pretectal nucleus, pars compacta (APc), were studied experimentally in the rat by using neurotracers. A restricted number of structures supply afferents to the anterior pretectal nucleus: the visual cortex (areas 17, 18 and 18a), ventral lateral geniculate nucleus and superficial layers of the superior colliculus. These anatomical observations indicate that the pars compacta of the anterior pretectal nucleus is closely related to visual centers, suggesting an involvement of this nucleus in visually mediated behavior..
In previous studies we have shown that electrical stimulation of the cortex or anterior pretectal nucleus (APT) inhibits the jaw-opening reflex (JOR).
Previous studies have shown that stimulation of the rat anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) strongly depresses a spinal reflex to noxious heat without causing significant aversion or depression of other motor responses.
Four behavioural tests have been used to study the antinociceptive effects of electrical stimulation of the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) in the rat.
Treatment induced a significant increase of [ 14C]2-deoxyglucose uptake relative to controls in 17 structures of the "early" group, including portions of the bulbar, pontine and mesencephalic reticular formation, nucleus raphe magnus, median and dorsal raphe nuclei, the ventrolateral and dorsal subdivisions of the periaqueductal gray matter, deep layers of the superior colliculus and the anterior pretectal nucleus.
Prominent anterogradely labeled efferent preoccipital projections were observed to the ipsilateral pretectal olivary nucleus (PON) and to a lesser extent the anterior pretectal nucleus.
Both the somatosensory cerebral cortex and anterior pretectal nucleus (APT) have been shown to produce descending modulation of trigeminal (V) and spinal somatosensory neurone and reflex activities.
Areas moderately enriched with [ 125I]Bolton-Hunter neuropeptide Y binding sites included the zonal layer of the superior colliculus (1347 +/- 71 fmol/g tissue); anterior pretectal nucleus (1172 +/- 113 fmol/g tissue); ventral tegmental area (1090 +/- 97 fmol/g tissue); periventricular fibre system (1026 +/- 48 fmol/g tissue); core of nucleus accumbens (948 +/- 29 fmol/g tissue) and area postrema (799 +/- 87 fmol/g tissue).
AGm projected to the anterior pretectal nucleus, the rostral interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus, the medial accessory oculomotor nucleus of Bechterew, the interstitial nucleus of Cajal, the nucleus of Darkschewitsch, the nucleus cuneiformis and subcuneiformis, intermediate and deep superior collicular layers, the paramedian pontine reticular formation (reticularis pontis oralis and caudalis, and reticularis gigantocellularis), and raphe centralis superior. The heaviest projections to the anterior pretectal nucleus were from the caudal portion of AGm.
Numerous neurons in the deep layers of the ipsilateral superior colliculus and in the anterior pretectal nucleus were also labeled.
Among the regions in the brainstem and diencephalon known to project to the pontine nuclei, double-labelled cells were seen in the reticular formation, the periaqueductal gray, and the nucleus praepositus hypoglossi, but not in the zona incerta or the anterior pretectal nucleus, regions that have been shown to contain glutamate decarboxylase-like immunoreactive neurons projecting to the pontine nuclei in the rat [ Border et al.
The long-lasting inhibition of responses to high-threshold stimuli by dorsal column stimulation was blocked by microinjection of gamma-aminobutyric acid into the anterior pretectal nucleus (APTN) but not by microinjections into adjacent areas of the brain.
The responses of neurones in the anterior pretectal nucleus (APTN) to electrical stimulation of the dorsal columns at twice the threshold for A fibres were studied in the rat anaesthetized with urethane.
The anterior pretectal nucleus (APT) has been recently implicated in sensorimotor integration and has been shown to have suppressive influences on tail flick behaviour and on nociceptive responses of spinal dorsal horn neurones in rats.
Prominent terminal fields were seen in a number of brainstem structures, including the superior colliculus, pontine nuclei, anterior pretectal nucleus, interpeduncular nucleus and spinal nucleus of nerve 5.
It is documented that no other site in this region evokes antinociception longer lasting than that obtained by stimulation of the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN).
The neuronal connections of the anterior pretectal nucleus (PTA) were investigated in the cat.
The afferent inputs to the rostral pole of the anterior pretectal nucleus have been examined by utilizing the retrograde axonal transport of a fluorescent dye, Fast Blue. In addition, the contralateral parabigeminal nucleus provided a major input to the rostral part of the anterior pretectal nucleus. Smaller and sparser collections of stained cell bodies could be found in the ventromedial hypothalamus, the posterior pretectal nucleus, the nucleus of the posterior commissure, the peripeduncular nucleus, the periaqueductal central gray, the contralateral anterior pretectal nucleus, and the locus coeruleus. The regional distribution of neurons projecting to the rostral pole of the anterior pretectal nucleus differs substantially from that of the cells innervating the anterior pretectal nucleus proper, i.e. It is concluded from this that the rostral pole constitutes a separate nucleus, anatomically distinct from the rest of the anterior pretectal nucleus and other cell groups in the pretectal complex. The demonstration that many of the afferents to the rostral anterior pretectal nucleus arise in regions involved in nociception supports recent electrophysiological and behavioural evidence that this brain area plays a role in the processing of noxious stimuli, rather than as a component in the pretectal control of visual system reflexes..
These include the abducens nucleus, the intermediate gray layer of the superior colliculus (SCi), the anterior pretectal nucleus (APN), the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (LGNv), and regions of the central gray directly bordering the oculomotor nucleus, the interstitial nucleus of Cajal, and the nucleus of Darkschewitsch.
In addition, immunoreactive fibers were also noted in the anterior pretectal nucleus.
1 The effects of intraperitoneal administration of antagonists to morphine, 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), noradrenaline and dopamine have been studied on the antinociceptive effects of electrical stimulation of the anterior pretectal nucleus (APtN) of the rat.
(1) Injection of tracer into the spinal enlargements resulted in dense terminal labeling in the parabrachial nucleus (PBN) and the periaqueductal gray matter (PAG); moderate termination was observed in the intercollicular nucleus (Inc), the intermediate and deep gray layers of the superior colliculus (SGI, SGP), the posterior pretectal nucleus (PTP), and the nucleus of Darkschewitsch (D); and scattered terminal fibers were seen in the cuneiform nucleus (CNF) and the pars compacta of the anterior pretectal nucleus (PTAc).
The synaptic organization of three kinds of afferent projections in the feline anterior pretectal nucleus (PTA) was analyzed by a combination of the degeneration and retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) techniques, along with that of the degeneration and anterograde transport of HRP techniques.
The behavioural effects of stimulating sites in the anterior pretectal nucleus (a.p.t.n.) were studied in unanaesthetized rats; 1-2 weeks later these rats were anaesthetized with Fluothane and the effects of similar electrical stimulation determined on the responses of spinal neurones to cutaneous stimuli.
Many other structures seem to represent modest additional sources of projections to the nucleus reticularis pontis oralis; these structures include numerous cortical territories, the nucleus basalis, the central amygdaloid nucleus, hypothalamic districts, the anterior pretectal nucleus, the substantia nigra, the cuneiform, the accessory oculomotor and the deep cerebellar nuclei, trigeminal, parabrachial and vestibular sensory cell groups, the nuclei raphe dorsalis and magnus, the locus coeruleus, the dorsolateral tegmental nucleus, and the spinal cord.
Cortical regions involving the representation of the neck musculature were shown to project principally ipsilaterally to lamina IV of the SC as well as to the anterior pretectal nucleus.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS).
Prompted by recent findings suggesting that the basal ganglia and possibly the limbic midbrain area and brainstem reticular formation may be represented within the general learning system of the rat brain, the current study was undertaken to assess the learning ability of different groups of young rats prepared with bilateral lesions to either the caudatoputamen, nucleus accumbens, ventral pallidum, ventromedial thalamus, habenula, subthalamic nucleus, pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus, dorsal raphe, ventral tegmental area, anterior pretectal nucleus, superior colliculus, inferior colliculus, or red nucleus.
Different branches of this system innervate the midbrain (superior colliculus, interstitial magnocellular nucleus of the posterior commissure, and anterior pretectal nucleus), the diencephalon (lateral habenular nucleus, parafascicular, anteroventral, anterodorsal, mediodorsal, and intralaminar thalamic nuclei), and the telencephalon (lateral septum and medial prefrontal cortex).
Nucleus gigantocellularis injections produced heavy labeling in the pontomesencephalic reticular formation, the intermediate layers of the superior colliculus, the pontine and midbrain central gray, the anterior pretectal nucleus, the ventral midbrain tegmentum including the retrorubral area, the centromedian-parafascicular complex, the fields of Forel/zona incerta, the rostral intralaminar nuclei and the lateral hypothalamic area. Although projections from nucleus reticularis ventralis diminished significantly rostral to the pons, labeling was still demonstrable in several mesodiencephalic nuclei including the cuneiform-pedunculopontine area, the mesencephalic gray, the superior colliculus, the anterior pretectal nucleus, the zona incerta and the paraventricular and intralaminar thalamic nuclei.
Such double-labeled neurons were observed within the zona incerta, anterior pretectal nucleus, lateral cerebellar nucleus, perirubral area, and the pontine and medullary reticular formation..
Brief (15 sec), low intensity (35 microA) stimulation of the anterior pretectal nucleus caused no escape behavior or motor deficits but increased tail-flick latency for more than 45 min. The anterior pretectal nucleus does not receive retinal or accessory visual inputs like other parts of the pretectal complex but is known to receive axons from somatosensory cortex and project to the perirubral mesencephalic reticular formation and the periaqueductal gray (PAG).
Although both parts receive comparable projections from two pretectal nuclei (termed nucleus geniculatus and dorsal anterior pretectal nucleus) and the inferior olive, they receive projections from different parts of the nucleus lateralis valvulae, a large cell mass in the midbrain tegmentum, composed of small, tightly packed neurons.
The largest contingent of afferents arises from the following centers: the cingulate and somatosensory cortices, central amygdaloid nucleus, ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, posterior thalamic nucleus, anterior pretectal nucleus, peripeduncular area, deep and intermediate layers of the superior colliculus, dorsal and ventral parabrachial nuclei, principal and interpolar trigeminal subnuclei, and cuneate nucleus.
Area LIP has been found to project to the pregeniculate nucleus, the zona incerta, the anterior pretectal nucleus, and the superior colliculus.
Substantial input to the zona incerta appears to come from the superior colliculus, the anterior pretectal nucleus and the periaqueductal gray substance, whereas many other structures, among which hypothalamic nuclei, the locus coeruleus, the raphe complex, the parabrachial area and medial districts of the pontomedullary reticular formation, seem to represent relatively modest but consistent additional input sources.
The major differences in distribution patterns were as follows: Injections of HRP into the lateral or ventrolateral portions of the ventroanterior and ventrolateral nuclear complex of the thalamus (VA-VL) produced retrogradely labeled neurons consistently in area 4 gamma (lateral part of the anterior and posterior sigmoid gyri, lateral sigmoid gyrus and the lateral fundus of the cruciate sulcus), the medial division of posterior thalamic group (POm), suprageniculate nucleus (SG) and anterior pretectal nucleus ipsilaterally, and in the nucleus Z of the vestibular nuclear complex bilaterally.
After injections of HRP into the olive in six cats, cells were labeled ipsilaterally in the anterior pretectal nucleus (NPA), the posterior pretectal nucleus (NPP), the nucleus of the optic tract (NOT), and the dorsal terminal nucleus of the accessory optic tract (DTN).
In addition, there was a sparse projection to the cuneiform nucleus and the anterior pretectal nucleus.
In addition a few fibers are present in the interstitial nucleus of Cajal (CA) and anterior pretectal nucleus (PAc).
Fairly dense terminal networks are found in the posterior pretectal nucleus (PP) and the compact part of the anterior pretectal nucleus (PAc) as well.
After injection into DLL or EN, terminal labeling was confined to the ventral portions of the anterior pretectal nucleus. After injection into RP or NB, heavy terminal labeling was observed in the midbrain reticular formation, extending dorsally into the anterior pretectal nucleus.
On the contralateral side terminal labeling was found in both pigmented and albino rabbits in the nucleus of the optic tract (NOT), the anterior pretectal nucleus (PA), the posterior pretectal nucleus (PP) and the pretectal olivary nucleus (PO).
By embryonic day 56, five distinct bilateral fields of retinal fiber termination are apparent within the following regions: (i) the nucleus of the optic tract; (ii) the pretectal olivary nucleus; (iii) the posterior pretectal nucleus; (iv) the anterior pretectal nucleus; and (v) the medial pretectal nucleus.
The anterior pretectal nucleus (PTA) of the cat was observed electron microscopically after motor cortical ablation and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) injection into the inferior olive of the same animal.
Direct projections from the anterior pretectal nucleus (APN) to the dorsal accessory olive (DAO) were found in the cat by the anterograde and retrograde WGA-HRP methods.
When the injections were placed in the lateral part of the motor area of the hand or arm regions, silver grains were manifested in the nucleus of Darkschewitsch (ND) in its whole rostrocaudal extent, and they were observed also in the ventrolateral part of the anterior pretectal nucleus (PA) and in the caudal portion of the posterior pretectal nucleus (PP).
Injections in LD result in retrogradely labeled neurons in all nuclei of the pretectal complex, including the nucleus of the optic tract (NTO), the posterior pretectal nucleus (NPP), the anterior pretectal nucleus (NPA), the pretectal olivary nucleus (NOL), and the medial pretectal nucleus (NPM).
Among several pretectal nuclei, the posterior pretectal, the medial pretectal nucleus and the reticular part of the anterior pretectal nucleus receive the cerebellar afferents.
In the pretectum, the DN fibers terminated ventrally in the reticular part of the anterior pretectal nucleus and the posterior pretectal nucleus. THe AIN fibers terminated ventrally in the compact part of the anterior pretectal nucleus and the posterior pretectal nucleus.
Labeled pretectal neurons were found throughout all pretectal nuclei; the densest concentrations were in the medial pretectal nucleus, the anterior pretectal nucleus and the nucleus of the posterior commissure.
Thirty-one (72%) neurons were in the nucleus of the optic tract (NOT), four (9%) in the anterior pretectal nucleus (PA) and seven (16%) in the border between NOT and PA.
A rostral field is located within a rostrolateral strip of the compact part of the anterior pretectal nucleus, where a partial topographic arrangement of this projection is present.
Labelled cells were only found in the posterior pretectal nucleus (NPP), the nucleus of the optic tract (NOT) and the anterior pretectal nucleus (NPA).
Other projections replicated in several animals included the zona incerta and nearby sectors of the substantia nigra; three distinct mesencephalic arrangements within the deep layers of the superior colliculus, the external nucleus of the inferior colliculus, and the intercollicular nucleus; the anterior pretectal nucleus; dorsal sectors of the inferior olivary complex and the ipsilateral cerebellar cortex.
During stimulation of the anterior pretectal nucleus, maximum evoked activity was found at the border between the 17th and the 18th areas, as well as in the area 18a.
Clear retinotopic organization was not demonstrable in the projections of areas 17, 18 and 19 to the reticular complex of the thalamus and ventral lateral geniculate nucleus, or in the projection of area 19 to the anterior pretectal nucleus.
Following lesions of the superficial layers of the superior colliculus, definite degenerated axonal endings were found in the dorsal and ventral lateral geniculate nuclei, inferior pulvinar, centrointermediate nucleus, magnocellular dorsomedial nucleus, anterior pretectal nucleus and pretectal region.
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