Tracing of lateral pterygoid muscle-related neurons in the trigeminal brainstem nuclei in the rat |
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| Authors: | J T Rokx J D Van Willigen |
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| Affiliation: | Orofacial Research Group, School of Dentistry, University of Groningen, The Netherlands. |
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| Abstract: | Retrograde transport of fluorescent tracers (diamidino yellow and true blue) was used to study the arrangement of brainstem neurons innervating the lateral pterygoid muscle in the rat. The lateral pterygoid motoneurons were located in the dorsolateral (jaw-closing) part of the trigeminal motor nucleus with clear somatotopy in the caudal part of the nucleus. No muscle-related neurons were present in the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus. Histological examination of serial sections of lateral pterygoid muscles confirms the notion that, at least in the rat, this muscle is devoid of muscle spindles. |
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