Transcranial magnetic stimulation was used to investigate the corticofacial projections in 53 patients with (n = 28) and without (n = 25) central facial paresis due to unifocal ischaemic lesions at different brainstem levels. Lesion topography documented by MRI studies was correlated with the electrophysiological findings. In the majority of patients the corticofacial fibres travel within the ventromedial base of the pons and cross the midline at the level of the facial nucleus. In some individuals, however, we found evidence that corticolingual fibres form an 'aberrant bundle' in a paralemniscal position at the dorsal edge of the pontine base. In other patients the corticofacial fibres loop down into the ventral part of the upper medulla, cross the midline and ascend in the dorsolateral medullary region ipsilaterally to the facial nucleus. The findings suggest that facial paresis due to a brainstem lesion may present as contralateral supranuclear facial paresis by a lesion of the cerebral peduncle, pontine base, the aberrant bundle and the ventral medulla. Supranuclear facial paresis ipsilateral to the lesion side may result from a lesion in the lateral medulla, and facial paresis of the supranuclear type may be imitated by a lesion of the peripheral facial nerve in the dorsolateral medulla with involvement of the lower pons.