Cerebellar Zones: A Personal History

Cerebellar zones were there, of course, before anyone noticed them. Their history is that of young people, unhindered by preconceived ideas, who followed up their observations with available or new techniques. In the 1960s of the last century, the circumstances were fortunate because three groups, in Leiden, Lund, and Bristol, using different approaches, stumbled on the same zonal pattern in the cerebellum of the cat. In Leiden, the Häggqvist myelin stain divulged the compartments in the cerebellar white matter that channel the afferent and efferent connections of the zones. In Lund, the spino-olivocerebellar pathways activated from individual spinal funiculi revealed the zonal pattern. In Bristol, charting the axon reflex of olivocerebellar climbing fibers on the surface of the cerebellum resulted in a very similar zonal map. The history of the zones is one of accidents and purposeful pursuit. The technicians, librarians, animal caretakers, students, secretaries, and medical illustrators who made it possible remain unnamed, but their contributions certainly should be acknowledged

[Somatotopic organization of the vestibulospinal tract in the toad]. FT Organizzazione somatotopica della via vestibolospinale nel rospo.

The origin of the vestibulospinal projection in the toad has been investigated by using the method of the retrograde axonal transport of HRP injected at various levels of the spinal cord. The vestibulospinal projection, in this species, was found to be somatotopically organized, since neurons projecting to the cervical segments of the spinal cord were located within the rostromedial part of the ventral vestibular nucleus and those neurons projecting to the lumbosacral segments of the spinal cord were located within the caudolateral part of that nucleus. This pattern of organization of the vestibulospinal projection in amphibia is similar to that described in mammals and birds