Avian brainstem and descending spinal projections associated with locomotion ...

• Main Author: Webster, Deirdre M.S.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Subjects: Branta canadensis; Canada Goose
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0098175; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0098175

Electrical microstimulation studies in the decerebrate bird have previously identified brainstem regions that play a role in the initiation of locomotion. This thesis was designed to identify the neuroanatomical connections of these physiologically defined locomotor regions. The experiments were conducted on the Pekin duck, Anas platyrhynchos; Canada goose, Branta canadensis; Sulphur-crested cockatoo, Cacatua galerita; and Eastern rosella, Platycercus eximius. A variety of retrograde tracer chemicals (e.g. wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase and fluorescent tracer True Blue) were injected into either the cervical or lumbar spinal cord alone or in conjunction with a more rostral subtotal lesion of the spinal cord to determine (1) the origins of spinal projections to the spinal cord, and (2) the funicular organization of these pathways at the lumbar level. The distribution of retrogradely labelled neurones was similar in all avian species examined. There were no direct telencephalic projections to the ...