The intergeniculate leaflet (IGL) has widespread projections to the basal forebrain and visual midbrain, including the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Here we describe IGL-afferent connections with cells in the ventral midbrain and hindbrain. Cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) injected into the IGL retrogradely labels neurons in a set of brain nuclei most of which are known to influence visuomotor function. These include the retinorecipient medial, lateral and dorsal terminal nuclei, the nucleus of Darkschewitsch, the oculomotor central gray, the cuneiform, and the lateral dorsal, pedunculopontine, and subpeduncular pontine tegmental nuclei. Intraocular CTB labeled a retinal terminal field in the medial terminal nucleus that extends dorsally into the pararubral nucleus, a location also containing cells projecting to the IGL. Distinct clusters of IGL-afferent neurons are also located in the medial vestibular nucleus. Vestibular projections to the IGL were confirmed by using anterograde tracer injection into the medial vestibular nucleus. Other IGL-afferent neurons are evident in Barrington's nucleus, the dorsal raphe, locus coeruleus, and retrorubral nucleus. Injection of a retrograde, trans-synaptic, viral tracer into the SCN demonstrated transport to cells as far caudal as the vestibular system and, when combined with IGL injection of CTB, confirmed that some in the medial vestibular nucleus polysynaptically project to the SCN and monosynaptically to the IGL, as do cells in other brain regions. The results suggest that the IGL may be part of the circuitry governing visuomotor activity and further indicate that circadian rhythmicity might be influenced by head motion or visual stimuli that affect the vestibular system.

The mammalian medial vestibular nucleus (MVe) receives input from all vestibular endorgans and provides extensive projections to the central nervous system. Recent studies have demonstrated projections from the MVe to the circadian rhythm system. In addition, there are known projections from the MVe to regions considered to be involved in sleep and arousal. In this study, afferent and efferent subcortical connectivity of the medial vestibular nucleus of the golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) was evaluated using cholera toxin subunit-B (retrograde), Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (anterograde), and pseudorabies virus (transneuronal retrograde) tract-tracing techniques. The results demonstrate MVe connections with regions mediating visuomotor and postural control, as previously observed in other mammals. The data also identify extensive projections from the MVe to regions mediating arousal and sleep-related functions, most of which receive immunohistochemically identified projections from the lateral hypothalamic hypocretin (orexin) neurons. These include the locus coeruleus, dorsal and pedunculopontine tegmental nuclei, dorsal raphe, and lateral preoptic area. The MVe itself receives a projection from hypocretin cells. CTB tracing demonstrated reciprocal connections between the MVe and most brain areas receiving MVe efferents. Virus tracing confirmed and extended the MVe afferent connections identified with CTB and additionally demonstrated transneuronal connectivity with the suprachiasmatic nucleus and the medial habenular nucleus. These anatomical data indicate that the vestibular system has access to a broad array of neural functions not typically associated with visuomotor, balance, or equilibrium, and that the MVe is likely to receive information from many of the same regions to which it projects.

Infrared cameras and ultrasonic microphones were used to record big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) flying in natural conditions at night while they hunted for insects. As expected, bats avoided obstacles while flying through vegetation and intercepted flying prey in the open. But bats also appeared to capture insects near and possibly on the ground and near or in vegetation, flew low over water to drink, and pursued each other in aerial "dogfights." In less than a minute, the same bat often used echolocation for several different tasks, showing a wider repertoire of sonar-guided behavior than revealed by previous observations limited to seeing bats flying against the evening sky or being photographed in fixed fields-of-view.

On the basis of patterns of anterograde, retrograde, and bi-directional transport of tracers from both the superior olivary nucleus (SON) and the torus semicircularis (TS), we report anatomical changes in brainstem connectivity across metamorphic development in the bullfrog, Rana catesbeiana. In early and late stages of larval development (Gosner stages 25–37), anterograde or bi-directional tracers injected into the SON produce terminal/fiber label in the contralateral SON and in the ipsilateral TS. Between stages 38–41 (deaf period), only sparse or no terminal/fiber label is visible in these target nuclei. During metamorphic climax (stages 42–46), terminal/fiber label reappears in both the contralateral SON and in the ipsilateral TS, and now also in the contralateral TS. Injections of retrograde tracers into the SON fail to label cell bodies in the ipsilateral TS in deaf period animals, mirroring the previously-reported failure of retrograde transport from the TS to the ipsilateral SON during this developmental time. Bilateral cell body label emerges in the dorsal medullary nucleus and the lateral vestibular nucleus bilaterally as a result of SON transport during the late larval period, while cell body label in the contralateral TS emerges during climax. At all larval stages, injections into the SON produce anterograde and retrograde label in the medial vestibular nucleus bilaterally. These data show anatomical stability in some pathways and plasticity in others during larval development, with the most dramatic changes occurring during the deaf period and metamorphic climax. Animals in metamorphic climax show patterns of connectivity similar to that of froglets and adults, indicating the maturation during climax of central anatomical substrates for hearing in air.