Topography of Deep Cerebellar Nuclei of the African Giant Pouched Rat (Cricetomys gambianus)

The deep cerebellar nuclei form the major structures that cerebellum communicates with other brain components to execute its functional role of coordination of voluntary movement, posture and balancing. The major objective of this study was to identify as well as relating the deep cerebellar nuclei to the zonal distributions in the cerebellum. A histomorphological analysis was conducted on twelve cerebella of African giant pouched rats. Three nuclei were identified to be associated with the corresponding zone of the cortex; the dentate were noted in the bilateral cerebellar hemispheres, interpose nuclei were found in the paravermis and the fastigial nuclei in the central vermis. The dentate nuclei were the largest of the three, average 90 µm, composed of multipolar, bipolar neurons and some characteristic cellular bands in form of a folded bag shaped cells. The interposed nuclei were next in size to dentate, averaged 50 µm composed mainly of multipolar and bipolar neurones. The smallest was fastigial nuclei, averaged 43 µm and composed of small and medium-sized bipolar neurones. In conclusion, the relatively well-developed deeper cerebellar nuclei, particularly the dentate nucleus in this species may be correlated with the animals' ability to use their extremities in movement and in reaching and grasping of grasses and other food materials in the wild and / or captivity.