Direct projections from the cerebellar fastigial nucleus to the thalamic suprageniculate nucleus in the cat studied with the anterograde and retrograde axonal transport of wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase

Axonal transport of WGA-HRP injected into (1) the suprageniculate nucleus or (2) the fastigial nucleus, was investigated. Retrogradely labeled neurons were found in the caudal part of the bilateral fastigial nucleus following injection 1, and anterograde labeled axon terminals were observed in the bilateral suprageniculate nucleus following injection 2. Electron microscopic observations of these terminals revealed that they were large terminals making asymmetric synaptic contacts with dendrites. These results suggest that some neurons in the fastigial nucleus send their axons to the suprageniculate nucleus.