Anatomic and physiological characteristics of the ferret lateral rectus muscle and abducens nucleus.

The ferret has become a popular model for physiological and neurodevelopmental research in the visual system. We believed it important, therefore, to study extraocular whole muscle as well as single motor unit physiology in the ferret. Using extracellular stimulation, 62 individual motor units in the ferret abducens nucleus were evaluated for their contractile characteristics. Of these motor units, 56 innervated the lateral rectus (LR) muscle alone, while 6 were split between the LR and retractor bulbi (RB) muscle slips. In addition to individual motor units, the whole LR muscle was evaluated for twitch, tetanic peak force, and fatigue. The abducens nucleus motor units showed a twitch contraction time of 15.4 ms, a mean twitch tension of 30.2 mg, and an average fusion frequency of 154 Hz. Single-unit fatigue index averaged 0.634. Whole muscle twitch contraction time was 16.7 ms with a mean twitch tension of 3.32 g. The average fatigue index of whole muscle was 0.408. The abducens nucleus was examined with horseradish peroxidase conjugated with the subunit B of cholera toxin histochemistry and found to contain an average of 183 motoneurons. Samples of LR were found to contain an average of 4,687 fibers, indicating an LR innervation ratio of 25.6:1. Compared with cat and squirrel monkeys, the ferret LR motor units contract more slowly yet more powerfully. The functional visual requirements of the ferret may explain these fundamental differences.

Effects of 12 days of artificial rearing on morphology of hypoglossal motoneurons innervating tongue retrusors in rat.

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of reduced tongue activity by artificial rearing on the morphology of motoneurons innervating the extrinsic tongue retrusors. Artificially reared rat pups were fed via gastric cannula from postnatal day 3 to postnatal day 14. Artificially reared animals and dam-reared controls had cholera toxin (subunit B) conjugate of horseradish peroxidase injected into the styloglossus to label motoneurons innervating hyoglossus and styloglossus on postnatal day 13 and postnatal day 59. Following perfusion on postnatal days 14 and 60, serial transverse sections treated with tetramethyl benzidine and counterstained neutral red were used to analyze motoneuron morphology. The shorter diameter of hyoglossus motoneurons increased with age for the dam-reared but not the artificially reared group. There was a tendency for a similar pattern for styloglossus motoneurons across the two rearing groups. The changes in form factor reflected the changes in shorter diameter for both motoneuron pools. Therefore, reducing suckling activity during normal postnatal development leads to diminished motoneuron somal growth in rats. This may also be the case in premature infants necessarily fed artificially.

Extraocular connective tissues: a role in human eye movements?

PURPOSE: This study presents a detailed anatomic analysis of the undisturbed connective tissues that surround the horizontal extraocular muscles (EOMs) of humans. Emphasis is placed on those EOM orbital side tissues that, in previous MRI studies, were assumed to couple the muscle to the pulley. METHODS: Serial 5-mum sections were prepared from paraffin-embedded blocks of the lateral and medial rectus muscles and their surrounding connective tissues. The sections were treated with Masson's trichrome stain for light microscopic examination of muscle fibers (red) and surrounding connective tissues (blue). RESULTS: Rectus muscle sections demonstrated the orbital connective tissues to be a collagenous bridge between the distal third of the muscle and the orbital periosteum (i.e., check ligament [CL]). The CL attaches to the muscle by investing itself around orbital muscle fibers whereas, at the point of attachment, those fibers remain aligned with the remainder of the muscle. The CL on the orbital side and the reflected bulbar fascia on the global side of the muscle constitute a tubelike sheath. The posterior border of the sheath insinuates into the muscle belly and its anterior aspect blends into the sides of the portal through Tenon's capsule. CONCLUSIONS: All rectus EOM fibers participate in eye rotation. The CL is the band of tissue present on the MRI images, but was previously described as the orbital layer insertion for the active pulley hypothesis (APH). The APH should now be questioned. Alternate theories incorporating accepted neurophysiological, anatomic, and ophthalmological principles of EOM movement are discussed.

Postnatal development of hypoglossal motoneurons that innervate the hyoglossus and styloglossus muscles in rat.

Postnatal development of hyoglossus and styloglossus motoneurons was studied in this investigation of the hypoglossal nucleus. Our findings show separate and distinct locations for hyoglossus and styloglossus motoneurons within the retrusor (dorsal) subdivision of the hypoglossal nucleus for all age groups. Hyoglossus and styloglossus motoneuron cross-sectional area reached their adult size at different times (by weeks 2 and 3, respectively). Cell roundness, as measured by form factor (measure of cell perimeter relative to its area), decreased with advancing postnatal age for both populations of motoneurons. Differences in the direction of the dendritic projection between hyoglossus and styloglossus motoneurons were found. Hyoglossus and styloglossus motoneuron development was compared to genioglossus motoneuron postnatal development.

Effect of artificial rearing on the contractile properties and myosin heavy chain isoforms of developing rat tongue musculature.

This study's purpose was to examine the influence of an altered activity level, via artificial rearing, on the contractile properties, myosin heavy chain phenotypes (MHC), and muscle fiber sizes of the developing rat tongue retractor musculature. Artificially reared rat pups were fed through a gastric cannula, eliminating nutritive suckling from postnatal day 4 to postnatal day 14. Rat pups were observed immediately following artificial rearing (postnatal day 14) and after a 1-mo resumption of function (postnatal day 42). The contractile characteristics of the tongue retractor musculature were measured in response to stimulation of the hypoglossal nerve. At postnatal day 14, artificially reared rat pups demonstrated significantly longer twitch half-decay times, lower fusion frequencies, and a marked decrease in fatigue resistance. These contractile speed and fatigue characteristics were fully recovered following a 1-mo resumption of function. MHC phenotypes of the styloglossus muscle (a tongue retractor) were determined by gel electrophoresis. At postnatal day 14, artificial rearing had not altered the MHC phenotype or muscle fiber sizes of the styloglossus muscle. However, following a 1-mo resumption of function artificially reared rat pups demonstrated a small but significant increase in MHCIIa expression and decrease in MHCIIb expression compared with dam-reared rats. These results support artificial rearing as a useful model for altering the activity level of the tongue and suggest that normal suckling behavior is necessary for the normal postnatal development of the tongue retractor musculature. This may also be the case for premature infants necessarily fed artificially.

Organization of the hypoglossal motoneurons that innervate the horizontal and oblique components of the genioglossus muscle in the rat.

Anatomical studies have shown the genioglossus muscle of the tongue of mammals to have at least two subdivisions. One is horizontal and the other fans out obliquely. In the dog, the hypoglossal nerve appears to have separate branches for each muscle subdivision. In the rat, genioglossus muscle motoneurons have been reported in the lateral and centrolateral subnuclei of the ventral hypoglossal nucleus. Here, retrograde labeling documented that these two hypoglossal sub-nuclei separately supply the two components of the genioglossus muscle. In so doing we add new data concerning the myotopic organization of the hypoglossal nucleus and further clarify the functional organization of the hypoglossal-tongue complex into protrusor and retrusor subdivisions.