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Accessory Abducens Nucleus and Conditioned Eye Retraction/ Nictitating Membrane Extension in Rabbit'

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Accessory Abducens Nucleus and Conditioned Eye Retraction/ Nictitating Membrane Extension in Rabbit' 027~&l74/85/0504-0941$02.00/0 The Journal of Neuroscience Copyright 0 Society for Neuroscience Vol. 5. No. 4, pp. 941-950 Printed in U.S.A. April 1985 Accessory Abducens Nucleus and Conditioned Eye Retraction/ Nictitating Membrane Extension in Rabbit’ JOHN F. DISTERHOFT,* KEVIN J. QUINN, CRAIG WEISS, AND MICHAEL T. SHIPLEY3 Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois 60611 Abstract (US). In most animals, nictitating membrane conditioned responses (CRs) begin occurring reliably in the first training session (Disterhoft The role of accessory abducens nucleus neurons in the et al., 1977). Single neurons may be studied during the course of conditioned eye retraction/nictitating membrane extension initial training (Kraus and Disterhoft, 1982; Berger et al., 1983). response was defined in the rabbit. Horseradish peroxidase The final output motor neurons must be known, in order to injections into the retractor bulbi muscle showed that acces- characterize the conditioned reflex arc. Cegavske et al. (1976) sory abducens nucleus is the principal location of its motor- showed that stimulation of the abducens nerve caused NM extension neurons. Single and multiple unit recording in accessory in the rabbit. They also showed that the NM (or third eyelid) was abducens indicated that these motor neurons show a marked physically forced out across the cornea in a passive fashion when responsiveness to cornea1 and periorbital stimulation and fire the eyeball was retracted. Their multiple-unit recordings from the in close correlation with conditioned, unconditioned, or spon- abducens nucleus correlated extremely well with NM extension, taneous eye retraction/nictitating membrane extension. further suggesting that the output motor neurons controlling eye Complete lesions of accessory abducens showed, at most, retraction were in the abducens nucleus. a partial reduction of the conditioned and unconditioned eye We began the studies reported here to test the hypothesis that retraction response. Section of the extraocular muscles, there might be separate groups of abducens motor neurons sending other than retractor bulbi, also caused a partial reduction of their axons to the lateral rectus (which we supposed was involved the eye retraction response. Accessory abducens lesions, just in lateral rotation of the eye) and to retractor bulbi (involved in combined with extraocular muscle section, were necessary eye retraction). The series of experiments which followed and which to dramatically reduce the eye retraction response perma- we report here showed that accessory abducens (Act ABD), rather nently. These experiments demonstrated that accessory ab- than abducens, plays a prominent role in conditioned and uncondi- ducens is a primary controller of eye retraction through its tioned eye retraction as the major source of axons to the retractor axons to retractor bulbi. The other extraocular muscles act bulbi muscle. But the other extraocular muscles, acting in coordina- in concert with retractor bulbi to elicit conditioned and un- tion, also contribute significantly to eye retraction and may mediate conditioned eye retractions. relatively normal responses when Act ABD has been lesioned. Preliminary reports of portions of these studies have been made (Disterhoft and Shipley, 1980; Quinn et al., 1982; Disterhoft and Analysis of the neural substrates of associative learning in mam- Weiss, 1984). malian brain is a complex problem. The use of a relatively simple behavioral paradigm in which the stimuli to be associated are easily Materials and Methods controlled, in which at least one behavioral output is readily meas- ured, and in which physiological recordings may be made in the Subjects and surgical procedures. Subjects were all young adult male animal during and after learning will facilitate progress in understand- rabbits 6 to 8 weeks old and weighing 1 to 1.5 kg. New Zealand White albino ing the learning process. The rabbit nictitating membrane (NM) rabbits were routinely used. Some Dutch rabbits were used in the anatomical tracing experiments. Thorazine (8 mg/kg, i.m.) was administered 30 min preparation, which was originally described by Gormezano et al. before surgery. Sodium pentobarbital (30 mg/kg) was given through the (1962) has many characteristics making it desirable for use in marginal ear vein at the beginning of surgery and supplemented if necessary. physiological and anatomical studies of learning (Thompson, 1976; All subjects were implanted with restraining head bolts (6-32 x % inch Disterhoft et al., 1977). It and closely related eyeblink conditioning nylon machine screws) embedded in dental acrylic and attached to the skull (Woody and Brozek, 1969) have been adapted by several groups with stainless steel screws. The head bolts were attached with the head held as “model systems” in which to study the systems neurophysiology in the standard rabbit stereotaxic plane (Fifkova and Marsala, 1967) lambda of learning. 1.5 mm inferior to bregma. For Act ABD recording and lesion experiments, A typical approach is to pair an auditory conditioned stimulus (CS) the skull was cleared around lambda and a trephine hole was made anterior with a cornea1 air puff or periorbital shock unconditioned stimulus and lateral to it. A plastic tube was placed over the skull defect which would be filled with sterile saline and capped between experiments. Two sutures were placed in each eyelid of the left eye to hold them open during behavioral Received May 17, 1984; Revised August 24, 1984; training so that NM extension or eye retraction responses could be measured. If eye retraction was to be measured (Quinn et al., 1984) the cartilaginous Accepted October 8, 1984 NM was infiltrated with Xylocaine, grasped with a tissue forceps, and cut ’ This work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant BNS with sharp scissors near the medial canthus. Act ABD was located for physiological recording and lesion placement 8302488, National Institutes of Health Grant SO7 RR05570, and National by antidromic activation of the abducens nerve with a chronic bipolar Institute of Mental Health Grant T32-MH 16097 (K. J. Q.). stimulating electrode constructed from used tungsten recording electrodes. *To whom correspondence should be addressed. The electrode was implanted surgically so that it rested directly above the 3 Present address: Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of abducens nerve as the nerve ran toward the orbit after exiting the brainstem. Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45267. The placement was about +9 mm from lambda, 2 mm from the midline and 941 942 Disterhoft et al. Vol. 5, No. 4, Apr. 1985 Figure 7. Location of accessory abducens nucleus in rabbit brainstem. A, Coronal section through rabbit brainstem. Abducens nucleus (AM), accessory ab- ducens nucleus (Act ABD), and lateral superior olive &SO) are indicated. Fascicles of nerve VI may be seen exiting toward the base of the brainstem. Bar = 0.5 mm. 6, Polarized light photomicrograph at the same level as the section in A. HRP was injected into the retractor bulbi muscles. Cells in the Act ABD nucleus are heavily labeled. Bar = 0.5 mm. C, Higher power view of abducens shown in B. Bar = 0.1 mm. D, Higher power view of Act ABD shown in B. Bar = 0.1 mm. 19 to 20 mm from the skull surface with the skull in the stereotaxic plane. the sclera, collapsing the eyeball, and cutting the insertions of the other The final vertrcal placement of the electrode was determined by monitoring extraocular muscles. A 50% solution of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) (Sigma NM extension to short bursts of electrical strmulatron (0.1 msec, 200 Hz). type VI) in 2% dimethylsulfoxide was injected into the retractor bulbi under Lowest thresholds were in the range of 50 to 500 pA and remained constant visual control through an operating microscope. Enough HRP was injected for a l- to 2-week period after implantation. to turn the muscle bellies brown (10 to 20 ~1, total). Procedures for perfusions When Act ABD single-neuron recording was to be done, the atlas, axis, and tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) reactions were those described by Mesulam and C3 and C4 vertebrae were fused to the occipital bone to increase (1978). stability (Fuchs and Luscher, 1970). A midline incision was made, stainless As will be described under “Results,” we found retrograde transport of steel screws were placed in the cervical laminae or spinous processes and HRP to both abducens and Act ABD after retractor bulbi injections. To test in the occiprtal bone, all of the screws were tied together with stainless steel for the possibility that abducens motor neurons may have been labeled by suture wire, and the whole assembly was embedded in dental acrylic while leakage of HRP from retractor bulbi to the lateral rectus muscle, we cauterized the rabbit’s neck was in a comfortable position. The muscle and skin were the branch of the abducens nerve to the lateral rectus (as well as much of sutured together after liberal use of an antibiotic ointment. The rabbits the muscle itself) before doing the retractor bulbi injections in three rabbits. recovered from and tolerated this procedure well. We found that we consis- As a final anatomical characterization of Act ABD cells as motor neurons, tently lost Act ABD single neurons after air puff presentation without this we tested them for acetylcholinesterase activity. Frozen sections of rabbit procedure. brainstem were reacted for the presence of acetylcholinesterase (Van Oot-
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