The cochlear nucleus (CN) in mammals, or its counterpart in birds, has multiple subdivisions each containing distinct morphological and functional (i.e., temporal discharge patterns and biophysical properties) cell types that project to different auditory nuclei in the brain stem in parallel. The analogous structure in frogs, the dorsal medullary nucleus (DMN), is a single phylogenetically olde...

From the perspective of comparative morphology, the distribution of non-monoaminergic neurons in the common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) was investigated using an immunohistochemical method with specific antibodies to tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and aromatic-L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC).TH-immunoreactive (IR) neurons (but not AADC-IR) neurons were observed in the olfactory tubercle, preopti...

A fall in skin temperature precipitates a repertoire of thermoregulatory responses that reduce the likelihood of a decrease in core temperature. Studies in animals suggest that medullary raphé neurons are essential for cold-defense, mediating both the cutaneous vasoconstrictor and thermogenic responses to ambient cooling; however, the involvement of raphé neurons in human thermoregulation has n...

Riley D, Dwinell M, Qian B, Krause KL, Bonis JM, Neumueller S, Marshall BD, Hodges MR, Forster HV. Differences between three inbred rat strains in number of K channel-immunoreactive neurons in the medullary raphé nucleus. J Appl Physiol 108: 1003–1010, 2010. First published November 19, 2009; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00625.2009.— Ventilatory sensitivity to hypercapnia is greater in Dahl salt-se...

The ventrolateral medulla (VLM) modulates autonomic functions, motor reactions and pain responses. The lateralmost part of the caudal VLM (VLMlat) was recently shown to be the VLM area responsible for pain modulation. In the present study, the brain sources of VLMlat afferent fibers were determined by tract-tracing techniques. Following injection of cholera toxin subunit B into the VLMlat, retr...

PURPOSE To report a rare case of painful trigeminal neuropathy after lateral medullary infarct and probe its underlying pathogenesis on the basis of neuroimaging and electrophysiological study. CASE REPORT A 45-year-old man presented acute onset of unsteady gait followed by paroxysmal and electric shock-like headache in the distribution of ophthalmic branch of left trigeminal nerve in 2 days....

Early transection and stimulation studies suggested the existence of sleep-promoting circuitry in the medullary brainstem, yet the location and identity of the neurons comprising this putative hypnogenic circuitry remains unresolved. In the present study, we sought to uncover the location and identity of medullary neurons that might contribute to the regulation of sleep. Here we show the follow...

The dorsolateral medullary syndrome (Wallenberg's syndrome) is produced by infarction of a wedge of lateral medulla posterior to the inferior olivary nucleus, and is usually caused by vertebral artery occlusion. Ipsilateral axial lateropulsion as an initial symptom of vertebral artery occlusion is rare, and the responsible anatomical structure is still uncertain. Here we describe a patient pres...