Mechanisms of the suppression of the nociceptive reflex of the opening of the mouth during stimulation of the structures of the limbic brain

The comparative effectiveness of the inhibitory influence of tetanic stimulation of hypothalamus, amygdala and limbic cortex on EMG-response of m. digastricus evoked by electrical stimulation of tooth pulp nociceptive afferents was studied in cats anesthetized with a mixture of chloralose and nembutal. It was found that inhibition of the EMG-component of the jaw-opening reflex is most pronounced in case of stimulation of medial and lateral region of the hypothalamus, the inhibitory effect of central and medial nuclei of the amygdala is less pronounced and the effect of the limbic cortex is the weakest. It was shown that the mechanism of the antinociceptive effect of tetanic stimulation of the hypothalamus is not related to the concomitant increase of the blood pressure. After stabilization of the blood pressure the suppressive effect of the hypothalamus remains without changes, that points out to a direct, primary, not baro-afferent mechanism of the inhibition of the activity of nociceptive neurons of the trigeminal sensory nuclei. Noradrenaline, injected intravenously, induced a large increase of the blood pressure accompanied by a pronounced inhibition of the pain reflex. Angiotensin causes the same degree of blood pressure elevation without changes in the amplitude of the EMG-response of the pain reflex. Hypothalamic and noradrenergic mechanisms for control of pain sensitivity are discussed.     

药物治疗与合并认知行为治疗对强迫症疗效的比较

目的探讨认知行为心理治疗(CBT)在强迫症(OCD)患者各亚型治疗中的有效性和规律性。方法本研究为临床对照研究。符合入组标准的强迫症患者按患者自愿原则分为两组,治疗观察3、6、12个月。疗效评定分别运用Yale-Brown强迫量表,自拟的自评好转程度量表和临床疗效评定。结果认知行为心理治疗合并药物治疗组31例,临床有效率70.9%,其中治愈率1.8%。单纯药物治疗组24例,临床有效率33.3%。Yale-Brown强迫量表和自评量表得分在6个月和12个月两组有显著差异(P<0.05)。其中强迫症亚型(怕脏型、反复检查型和反复担心型)的疗效比较,怕脏型在治疗3个月末两组间自评量表评分有显著性差异(P<0.05);反复担心型在治疗6个月末两组间Yale-Brown强迫量表总分有显著性差异(P<0.05);反复检查型两组间无统计学差异。结论认知行为心理治疗合并药物治疗强迫症的疗效明显优于单纯药物治疗。强迫症的亚型在治疗中的有效性次序为:反复担心型>怕脏型>反复检查型。     

Characteristics of the sympathetic innervation of the nictitating membrane and of the vasculature of the nose and tongue of the cat

Summary Vasomotor responses from the nasal mucosa and tongue, and contractions of the nictitating membrane, were recorded on stimulation of the cervical sympathetic or internal carotid nerves.Preganglionic sympathetic nerve fibres which elicited a membrane response possessed a lower threshold than those which evoked nasal vasoconstriction, while the latter displayed a lower threshold than fibres which evoked tongue vasoconstriction. The sympathetic vasodilator fibres to the tongue, whose activity was revealed after-receptor blockade, had a similar threshold to the vasoconstrictor fibres.Membrane contraction, nasal vasoconstriction and occasionally tongue vasoconstriction could be evoked by stimulating the internal carotid nerve. The postganglionic fibres innervating the nasal mucosa had a similar threshold to those of the nictitating membrane, which may indicate that there are small myelinated fibres innervating the mucosa.The preganglionic compound nerve action potential had four major components, S₁–S₄. S₁, S₂ and usually S₃ fibres were associated with membrane contraction; S₂, S₃ and sometimes S₁ fibres were associated with nasal vasoconstriction; and S₃, usually S₂ and occasionally S₁ fibres were associated with vasoconstriction in the tongue. It is concluded that each of these three groups of nerve fibres, but not S₄ fibres, may include fibres associated functionally with the three effectors.There was a considerable difference between the relative amplitude of the responses of the three effectors elicited by stimulation of the cervical sympathetic nerve at frequencies between 0.2 and 2 Hz. Vasoconstrictor responses were relatively larger than membrane contractions suggesting differences in the mechanisms of neurotransmission at the neuroeffector junctions.     

Development of the projection from the nucleus of the brachium of the inferior colliculus to the superior colliculus in the ferret

Neurons in the deeper layers of the superior colliculus (SC) have spatially tuned receptive fields that are arranged to form a map of auditory space. The spatial tuning of these neurons emerges gradually in an experience-dependent manner after the onset of hearing, but the relative contributions of peripheral and central factors in this process of maturation are unknown. We have studied the postnatal development of the projection to the ferret SC from the nucleus of the brachium of the inferior colliculus (nBIC), its main source of auditory input, to determine whether the emergence of auditory map topography can be attributed to anatomical rewiring of this projection. The pattern of retrograde labeling produced by injections of fluorescent microspheres in the SC on postnatal day (P) 0 and just after the age of hearing onset (P29), showed that the nBIC-SC projection is topographically organized in the rostrocaudal axis, along which sound azimuth is represented, from birth. Injections of biotinylated dextran amine-fluorescein into the nBIC at different ages (P30, 60, and 90) labeled axons with numerous terminals and en passant boutons throughout the deeper layers of the SC. This labeling covered the entire mediolateral extent of the SC, but, in keeping with the pattern of retrograde labeling following microsphere injections in the SC, was more restricted rostrocaudally. No systematic changes were observed with age. The stability of the nBIC-SC projection over this period suggests that developmental changes in auditory spatial tuning involve other processes, rather than a gross refinement of the projection from the nBIC.     

A contribution to the study of the architecture of the autonomic nervous system of the digestive tract of the rat

Summary The distribution of aminergic and non-aminergic nerve fibres to the different constituents of the wall of the digestive tract in various regions is described. Aminergic fibres synapse with all nervous perikarya. Densely interlacing networks of nerve fibres are found in both layers of the tunica muscularis and in the lamina muscularis mucosae. A finely meshed plexus is observed in relation to the wall of the blood vessels in the wall of the gut. There are many fibres connecting the muscular and the vascular plexus. No nerve fibres have been observed in direct relation to the epithelium.The functional implications of these findings are discussed.     

Origins of the sympathetic innervation of the cervical end of the uterus in the rat

A retrograde neuronal tracer (Fast Blue) was injected in the cervical end of the uterine horn of virgin rats. The majority of the retrogradely labeled post-ganglionic sympathetic neurons were found in the sympathetic chain (74%). The superior mesenteric ganglia, inferior mesenteric ganglia and suprarenal ganglia accounted for 22, 3 and <1%, respectively. The distribution of neurons in the sympathetic chain labeled from the uterus resembles that described for other pelvic organs.     

Electrophysiologic study of descending effects of field 5b of the association cortex of the brain of the cat on the neurons of the ventroposterolateral nucleus of the thalamus

Responses of 65 thalamic ventroposterolateral (VPL) nucleus neurons to stimulation of the associative cortex (area 5b) were studied in acute experiments on cats anesthetized with ketamine (25 mg/kg) and immobilized with myorelaxine (2 mg/kg). Neurons studied were identified on the basis of peculiarities of their responses evoked by primary somatosensory cortex and medial lemniscus stimulation. Three neurons responded to stimulation of the area 5b antidromically. Primary orthodromic excitation and inhibition were observed in 17 (26.2%) VPL neurons. The role of the area 5b descending influences on the somatosensory impulses transmission through VPL relay neurons is discussed.     

Molecular mechanisms of the involvement of the pyramidal neurons of the sensorimotor cortex in the organization of the feeding behavior of rabbits

Experiments performed on freely moving rabbits have shown that pyramidal neurons which had direct connections with lateral hypothalamus were activated during realization of the feeding behaviour. Pyramidal neurons which had no connection with lateral hypothalamus were inhibited. Microiontophoretic application of the protein synthesis inhibitor to pyramidal neurons caused their disability to respond to ascending activatory influences from the lateral hypothalamus. Administration of pentagastrin during inhibition of the protein synthesis restored the ability of pyramidal neurons to participate in hypothalamic feeding reactions. It is suggested that synthesis and release of the gastrin-like peptide into the perineuronal space is necessary for involvement of sensomotor cortex pyramidal neurons in organization of the feeding behaviour.     

Effect of stimulation of the superior colliculi of the tectum mesencephali on the motor neurons of the neck muscles of the cat

Postsynaptic potentials evoked by stimulation of three points of the superior colliculus in motoneurons of neck muscles were studied in experiments on cats under chloralosenembutal anesthesia. Stimulation of ipsilateral superior colliculus evoked EPSP with latencies ranging from 1.5 to 3.5 ms in 49 motoneurons. Stimulation of contralateral superior colliculus evoked EPSP with latencies ranging from 1.5 to 3.0 ms in 63 motoneurons and IPSP with latencies ranging from 2.6 to 5.0 ms in 10 motoneurons. It is suggested that the recorded postsynaptic potentials are mono- and disynaptic.     

Sexual pheromones and the evolution of the reward system of the brain: the chemosensory function of the amygdala

The amygdala of all tetrapod vertebrates receives direct projections from the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, and the strong similarities in the organization of these projections suggest that they have undergone a very conservative evolution. However, current ideas about the function of the amygdala do not pay sufficient attention to its chemosensory role, but only view it as the core of the emotional brain. In this study, we propose that both roles of the amygdala are intimately linked since the amygdala is actually involved in mediating emotional responses to chemical signals. The amygdala is the only structure in the brain receiving pheromonal information directly from the accessory olfactory bulbs and we have shown in mice that males emit sexual pheromones that are innately attractive for females. In fact, sexual pheromones can be used as unconditioned stimuli to induce a conditioned attraction to previously neutral odorants as well as a conditioned place preference. Therefore, sexual pheromones should be regarded as natural reinforcers. Behavioural and pharmacological studies (reviewed here) have shown that the females' innate preference for sexual pheromones is not affected by lesions of the dopaminergic cells of the ventral tegmental area, and that the systemic administration of dopamine antagonists do not alter neither the attraction nor the reinforcing effects of these pheromones. Anatomical studies have shown that the vomeronasal amygdala gives rise to important projections to the olfactory tubercle and the islands of Calleja, suggesting that these amygdalo-striatal pathways might be involved in the reinforcing value of sexual pheromones.     

Reorganization of the evoked neuronal activity of the dorsomedial nucleus of the thalamus in the rat shortly after destruction of the basolateral nuclei of the amygdala

Characteristics of the thalamic dorso-medial nucleus neuronal responses evoked by stimulation of the periamygdaloid cortex before and after the baso-lateral amygdala destruction were compared in anesthetized rats. Appearance of a new reaction in the form of a long rhythmic bursts and reliable decrease of phasic-active units and increase in the number of cells with tonic activation were found after such destruction. The number of units with spontaneous discharge increased without affecting the spontaneous discharge frequency. The mean duration of the tonic discharge increased from 142.5 +/- 42.4 ms to 375.4 +/- 53.8 ms but other parameters of the neuronal reactions did not differ significantly.     

Afferent connections of the ventral section of the magnocellular part of the nucleus ruber of the cat

Localization of retrograde-labelled brain neurons--sources of projections to the ventral magnocellular part of the red nucleus was studied in adult cat by means of microiontophoretic injections of horseradish peroxidase. The projections from many cortical, thalamic and hypothalamic structures, from the head of nucleus caudatus, septum, globus pallidus, anterior commissure nucleus, nucleus amygdalaris centralis, field of Forel, zona incerta and a number of the brainstem structures have been established. Projections from a number of other brain structures to the red nucleus have been confirmed. Trajectories of labelled fibre system projecting to the red nucleus are described.     

Innervation of the digit on the forepaw of the raccoon

The innervation of the digits on the raccoon forepaw was examined by using immunochemistry for protein gene product 9.5, calcitonin-gene related peptide, substance P, neuropeptide-Y, tyrosine hydroxylase, and neurofilament protein. The larger-caliber axons in the ventral glabrous skin terminate as Pacinian corpuscles deep in the dermis, small corpuscles and Merkel endings around the base of dermal papillae, and Merkel endings on rete pegs in dermal papillae. Extensive fine-caliber innervation terminates in the epidermis and on the microvasculature. The innervation is more dense in the distal than in the proximal volar pads. Pacinian endings are also concentrated in the transverse crease separating the distal and proximal pads. In the dorsal hairy skin, hair follicles are well innervated with piloneural complexes. Merkel innervation is located under slight epidermal elevations and in some large Merkel rete pegs located at the apex of transverse skin folds just proximal to the claw. No cutaneous Ruffini corpuscles were found anywhere on the digit. The claw is affiliated with dense medial and lateral beds of Pacinian endings, bouquets of highly branched Ruffini-like endings at the transition from the distal phalanx and unmyelinated innervation in the skin around the perimeter. Encapsulated endings are located at the lateral edge of the articular surface of the distal phalanx. Extensive fine-caliber innervation is affiliated with sweat glands and with the vasculature and is especially dense at presumptive arteriovenous sphincters. Virtually all of the sweat gland and vascular innervation is peptidergic, whereas most of the unmyelinated epidermal innervation is nonpeptidergic.