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Department of Anatomy Hacettepe University. Faculty of Medicine Hacettepe Ankara. TÜRKİYE There are varying opinions among authors regarding the peripheral course of the afferent fibres from the extraocular muscles. Previous studies have shown that some fibres arising from the oculomotor nerve enter the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve. However their function is not identified. In this study we examined the course of the axons arising from the medial rectus muscle for their relation with the trigeminal and superior cervical ganglia using horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a retrograde tracer. Labelled axons were found as a localized bundle in the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve. Sections of the trigeminal ganglion demonstrated a great number of labelled cell bodies but there were few in the ipsilateral superior cervical ganglion. These findins suggest that fibres from the oculomotor nerve entering the ophthalmic branch of the trigeminal nerve are afferent in nature and terminate on the cells in the trigeminal ganglion. Keywords : Oculomotor nerve. Trigeminal ganglion. Horseradish peroxidase