Afferent information derived from oral chemoreceptors is transmitted to second order neurons in the rostral solitary tract nucleus (rNST) and then relayed to other CNS locations responsible for complex sensory and motor behaviors. Here we investigate the characteristics of rNST neurons sending information rostral to the parabrachial nucleus (PBN). Afferent connections to these rNST-PBN projection neurons were identified by anterograde labeling of the chorda tympani (CT), glossopharyngeal (IX) and lingual (LV) nerves. We used voltage and current clamp recordings in brain slices to characterize the expression of both the transient A-type potassium current - I_KA and I_h, important determinants of neuronal repetitive discharge characteristics. The majority of rNST-PBN neurons express I_KA and these I_KA expressing neurons predominate in CT and IX terminal fields and were evenly distributed with neurons that did not express I_KA in LV field. rNST-PBN neurons expressing I_h were evenly distributed among CT, IX and LV terminal fields. However, expression patterns of I_KA and I_h differed between CT, IX and LV fields. I_KA expressing neurons frequently coexpress I_h in CT and IX terminal fields, whereas neurons in LV terminal field often express only I_h. All rNST-PBN neurons responded to afferent stimulation with all-or-none excitatory synaptic responses. rNST-PBN neurons had either multipolar or elongate morphologies and were distributed throughout the rNST but multipolar neurons were more often encountered in CT and IX terminal fields. No correlation was found between the biophysical and morphological characteristics of the rNST-PBN projection neurons in each terminal field.