ANTERIOR AND POSTERIOR ORAL CAVITY RESPONSIVE NEURONS ARE DIFFERENTIALLY DISTRIBUTED AMONG PARABRACHIAL SUBNUCLEI IN RAT

The responses of single parabrachial nucleus (PEN) neurons were record ed extracellularly to characterize their sensitivity to stimulation of individual gustatory receptor subpopulations (G neurons, n = 75) or m echanical stimulation of defined oral regions (M neurons, n = 54) then localized to morphologically defined PEN subdivisions. Convergence fr om separate oral regions onto single neurons occurred frequently for b oth G and M neurons, but converging influences were more potent when t hey arose from nearby locations confined to the anterior (AO) or poste rior oral cavity (PO). A greater number of G neurons responded optimal ly to stimulation of AO than to PO receptor subpopulations, and these AO-best G neurons had higher spontaneous and evoked response rates but were less likely to receive convergent input than PO-best G neurons. In contrast, proportions, response rates, and convergence patterns of AO-and PO-best M neurons were more comparable. The differential sensit ivity of taste receptor subpopulations was reflected in PEN responses. AO stimulation with NaCl elicited larger responses than PO stimulatio n; the converse was true for QHCl stimulation. Within the AO, NaCl eli cited a larger response when applied to the anterior tongue than to th e nasoincisor duct. Hierarchical cluster analysis of chemosensitive re sponse profiles suggested two groups of PEN G neurons. One group was c omposed of neurons optimally responsive to NaCl (N cluster); the other to HCl (H cluster). Most N- and H-cluster neurons were AO-best. Altho ugh they were more heterogenous, all but one of the remaining G neuron s were unique in responding best or second-best to quinine and so were designated as quinine sensitive (Of). Twice as many Of neurons were P O-compared with AO-best. M neurons were scattered across PEN subdivisi ons, but G neurons were concentrated in two pairs of subdivisions. The central medial and ventral lateral subdivisions contained both G and M neurons but were dominated by AO-best N-cluster G neurons. The distr ibution of G neurons in these subdivisions appeared similar to distrib utions in most previous studies of PEN gustatory neurons. In contrast to earlier studies, however, the external medial and external lateral- inner subdivisions also contained G neurons, intermingled with a compa rable population of M neurons. Unlike cells in the central medial and ventral lateral subnuclei, nearly every neuron in the external subnucl ei was PO best, and only one was an N-cluster cell. In conclusion, the present study supports a functional distinction between sensory input from the AO and PO at the pontine level, which may represent an organ izing principle throughout the gustatory neuraxis. Furthermore, two mo rphologically distinct pontine regions containing orosensory neurons a re described.