Somatotopic organization of corticospinal and corticotrigeminal neurons in the rat

The method of retrograde axonal transport of horseradish peroxidase was employed to examine the topographic organization of corticospinal and corticotrigeminal neurons in the rat. In both the first somatic sensory (SI) area and the motor (MI) area of the cortex these labeled corticofugal neurons, all of which are found in layer V, are grouped in a well organized, somatotopic pattern. Corticospinal projections which extend to lumbar levels of the spinal cord originate only from neuronal somata located in the hindlimb representation of SI and MI. Those neurons projecting to the cervical enlargement have somata mainly in the forelimb representation of SI and MI and the ventrolateral part of the trunk representation within SI. Cortical projections to the rostral cervical spinal segments appear to originate mainly from the neck and posterior head representations of SI and MI, though this conclusion is clearest for SI. Finally, neurons located exclusively within the head, muzzle, and vibrissal representation of SI project to the spinal trigeminal complex. Corticofugal neurons near the frontal pole and in an area of cortex ventrolateral to SI also project to the spinal cord. The areas involved are probably homologous to the supplementary motor (MII) and second somatic sensory (SII) areas respectively. The corticospinal and corticotrigeminal projections from these areas also appear to be organized in a somatotopic manner.It is concluded that in the rat, as in other species, the corticospinal and corticotrigeminal neurons in the sensorimotor cortex are arranged somatotopically. The somatotopic pattern found correlates remarkably well with that determined by single unit, evoked potential and cortical stimulation techniques.     

Dependence of the anterior olfactory area self-stimulation upon the lateral hypothalamic area

The functional relation between the anterior olfactory area (AO) and the lateral hypothalamic area (LH) was examined in a self-stimulation situation. Bar-pressing responses for AO sitmulation were suppressed by unilateral injection of procaine, and enhanced by glutamate, into LH. Neither procaine nor glutamate injected into AO had any influence upon LH self-stimulation. It is unlikely that the procaine effect was due to motor disturbance because similar injection of procaine into LH did not disturb the performance of a one-way avoidance task. It appears that the rewarding effect of AO stimulation is dependent upon the excitation of the more caudal structures including LH.     

大鼠视前内侧区的传出性神经纤维联系—WGA—HRP法研究

应用WGA-HRP顺行轴突运输研究大鼠视前内侧区传出性神经纤维投射。结果表明:视前内侧区的上行投射向嘴侧经斜角带进入外侧隔核;经髓纹进入缰核;经无名质进入杏仁前区及经终纹进入杏仁内侧核,另有标记纤维经内侧前脑束向外下行,经视束上方进入杏仁内侧核。下行投射经内侧前脑束进入下丘脑室旁核、外侧区、内侧核、后核、弓状核、乳头体前腹核和乳头体上核。继续向尾侧,标记纤维进入中脑腹侧背盖区,并投射到中缝正中核及中缝背核。     

儿童及青少年中央颞区放电的临床分析

目的:探讨儿童及青少年中央颞区癎样放电的特征和临床意义。方法:回顾分析近9年在同步录像脑电图(VEEG)或动态脑电图(AEEG)监测中具有中央颞区癎样放电的儿童和青少年的临床表现及与神经影像学异常的关系。结果:具有中央颞区癎样放电的儿童和青少年共452例,占同期接受EEG监测儿童及青少年的9．5％,占EEG各种癫癎样异常的15．4％。监测到中央颞区放电的平均年龄为7．28±3．15岁(1-17岁)。临床诊断包括伴中央颞区棘波的儿童良性癫癎(BECT)179例(39．6％),症状性或隐源性癫癎154例(34．1％),热性惊厥21例(4．7％),从无癫癎发作98例(21．7％)。在354例有癫癎发作者中235例(66％)为部分运动性发作,102例(28．7％)为全身强直阵挛发作;其他发作类型包括不典型失神发作9例(2．5％),肌阵挛发作6例(1．7％),负性肌阵挛发作4例(1.1％),痉挛发作3例(0．8％)。少数患者有一种以上发作形式。在283例有神经影像学记录的患者中,50例(17．7％)异常,其中仅10例异常部位与放电部位基本一致。结论:儿童及青少年中央颞区放电具有以下特点:①明显的年龄依赖性;②病因具有高度异源性,包括特发性、隐源性和症状性病因;③各种病因的中央颞区癎样放电均有一部分不伴有临床发作;④仅根据发作类型和EEG特征难以区分特发性和症状性病因,需要结合全面的临床资料作出诊断;⑤静止性脑结构病变不一定与中央颞区放电有直接关系。     

Is there a non-dopaminergic nigrostriatal pathway?

Sixteen per cent of the substantia nigra cell bodies normally labeled from the injection of a fluorescent retrograde tracer in the caudate-putamen complex could still be labeled by the same procedure after multiple intracisternal 6-hydroxydopamine treatments that depleted dopamine levels in the caudate-putamen complex to 1.0% of control. However, the demonstration of glyoxylic-acid-induced catecholamine histofluorescence in tissue from these lesioned rats revealed that many of the surviving retrogradely-labeled substantia nigra cell bodies still contained dopamine. The persistence of some dopamine in the substantia nigra of the lesioned animals was confirmed biochemically. Therefore, retrograde tracing in 6-hydroxydopamine lesioned rats overestimated the extent of the non-dopaminergic nigrostriatal tract.The simultaneous combination of retrograde fluorescent tracing and catecholamine histofluorescence in unlesioned animals revealed that only 5% or less of the substantia nigra cell bodies retrogradelylabeled from the caudate-putamen complex were without catecholamine fluorescence. These apparently non-dopaminergic nigrostriatal cells were located primarily in the ventral tegmental area, substantia nigra pars reticulata and extreme medial edge of the substantia nigra pars compacta.     

Sensory components facilitating jaw-closing muscle activities in the rabbit

Summary The role of oral and facial sensory receptors in the control of masticatory muscle activities was assessed from the effect of acute deafferentiation on cortically induced rhythmic jaw movements (CRJMs) in anesthetized rabbits. When a thin polyurethane-foam strip (1.5, 2.5 or 3.5 mm thick) was placed between opposing molars during CRJMs, masseteric activities were facilitated in association with an increase in the medial excursion of the mandible during the power phase. The effects varied with the pattern of CRJMs, and the rate of facilitation was greater for small circular movements than for the crescent-shaped movements. Furthermore, the response of the masseter muscle was greater in the anterior half of the muscle, where muscle spindles are most dense, than in its posterior half. It was also demonstrated that the response increased with an increase in the thickness of the test strip. In contrast, the activities of the jaw-opening muscle were not affected significantly. The duration of masseteric bursts increased during application of the test strip and the chewing rhythm tended to slow down. However, the latter effect was not significant. After locally anesthetizing the maxillary and inferior alveolar nerves, the facultative responses of the masseter muscle to the test strip was greatly reduced but not completely abolished. Lesioning of the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus (Mes V) where the primary ganglion cells of muscle spindle afferents from jaw-closing muscles and some periodontal afferents are located, also reduced the facilitative effects. Similar results were obtained in the animals with the kainic acid injections into the Mes V 1 week before electrical lesioning of this nucleus. In these animals the effects of electrical lesioning of the Mes V could be attributed to the loss of muscle receptor afferents since the neurons in the vicinity of the Mes V were destroyed and replaced by glial cells, whereas the Mes V neurons are resistant to kainic acid. When electrical lesioning of the Mes V and sectioning of the maxillary and inferior alveolar nerves were combined in animals with a kainic acid injection into the Mes V, the response of the masseter muscle to application of the strip was almost completely abolished. From these findings, we conclude that both periodontal receptors and muscle spindles are primarily responsible for the facilitation of jaw-closing muscle activities. Furthermore, it is suggested that the transcortical loop may not be the only path producing this facilitation since similar effects were induced in animals with ablation of the cortical masticatory area (CMA), when the test strip was placed between the molars during rhythmic jaw movements induced by pyramidal tract stimulation.     

Dopamine and serotonin: influences on male sexual behavior

Steroid hormones regulate sexual behavior primarily by slow, genomically mediated effects. These effects are realized, in part, by enhancing the processing of relevant sensory stimuli, altering the synthesis, release, and/or receptors for neurotransmitters in integrative areas, and increasing the responsiveness of appropriate motor outputs. Dopamine has facilitative effects on sexual motivation, copulatory proficiency, and genital reflexes. Dopamine in the nigrostriatal tract influences motor activity; in the mesolimbic tract it activates numerous motivated behaviors, including copulation; in the medial preoptic area (MPOA) it controls genital reflexes, copulatory patterns, and specifically sexual motivation. Testosterone increases nitric oxide synthase in the MPOA; nitric oxide increases basal and female-stimulated dopamine release, which in turn facilitates copulation and genital reflexes. Serotonin (5-HT) is primarily inhibitory, although stimulation of 5-HT(2C) receptors increases erections and inhibits ejaculation, whereas stimulation of 5-HT(1A) receptors has the opposite effects: facilitation of ejaculation and, in some circumstances, inhibition of erection. 5-HT is released in the anterior lateral hypothalamus at the time of ejaculation. Microinjections of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors there delay the onset of copulation and delay ejaculation after copulation begins. One means for this inhibition is a decrease in dopamine release in the mesolimbic tract.     

Maturation of pyramidal cell form in relation to developing afferent and efferent connections of rat somatic sensory cortex.

Golgi and axonal labeling methods were used to examine the maturation of pyramidal cells in layers III and V of the rat somatic sensory cortex. The material came from animals late in the gestation period, postnatal, ranging from 0 to 43 days of age and at maturity. Special attention was paid to the period (0–7 days of age) during which it is known that thalamic and callosal fibers grow into the cortex. It is shown that the basic features of the pyramidal cell form are established before the long afferent fibers arrive in layers III and V and before the large number of synapses are established in these layers. Nevertheless, considerable dendritic growth and spine formation occurs after the afferent fibers establish an adult-like pattern of distribution. It is also shown that even at 1 day of age, the axons of pyramidal cells in all layers have reached the vicinity of targets such as the striatum, thalamus, brainstem, spinal cord and contralateral cortex.At 0–1 day the immature pyramidal cells are essentially bipolar in the upper cortical plate, but in the developing infragranular layers they have a few short, almost spine-free, basal dendrites and, rarely, a few oblique branches of the apical dendrite. The apical dendrite extends to the pial surface and the dendritic branches end in growth cones. The dendrites of cells in all layers increase in size and complexity of branching over the first postnatal week; the maturation of dendrites in layer V leads that of dendrites in the supragranular layers by about 2–3 days. As maturation proceeds, basal dendrites acquire secondary and tertiary branches and more oblique branches appear on the apical dendrite. Dendritic spines appear after 4 days of age but remain sparse up to 7–8 days. At 14 days of age, the spine density is much higher than in 7-day-old animals but remains at a much lower density than in 4-week-old, 6-week-old, or adult animals. By 7–14 days, the difference in maturity between superficial (layer III) and deep (layer V) pyramidal cells is difficult to discern qualitatively. All the pyramidal cells now have relatively complex, highly branched dendritic trees when compared to younger cells, but the dendritic tree is still immature in terms of the number, length and complexity of branching of the apical and basal dendritic systems.It can be concluded that the growth of the long axon of cortical pyramidal neurons precedes the acquisition of afferent connections and when these afferent fibers arrive in the cortex the dendritic tree of the pyramidal cell is still highly immature. Thus it remains possible that the finer modeling of the dendritic tree and the formation of spines may be affected by extrinsic influences such as the afferent fibers.     

A lectin horseradish peroxidase study of the origin of ascending fibers in the medial forebrain bundle of the rat. The lower brainstem

The origins of projections within the medial forebrain bundle from the lower brainstem were examined with the horseradish peroxidase technique. Labeled cells were found in at least 15 lower brainstem nuclei following injections of a conjugate or horseradish peroxidase and wheat germ agglutinin at various levels of the medial forebrain bundle. Dense labeling was observed in the following cell groups (from caudal to rostral): A1 (above the lateral reticular nucleus); A2 (mainly within the nucleus of the solitary tract); a distinct group of cell trailing ventrolaterally from the medial longitudinal fasciculus at the level of the rostral pole of the inferior olive; raphe magnus; nucleus incertus; dorsolateral tegmental nucleus (of Castaldi); locus coeruleus; nucleus subcoeruleus; caudal part of the dorsal (lateral) parabrachial nucleus; and raphe pontis. Distinct but light labeling was seen in raphe pallidus and obscurus, nucleus prepositus hypoglossi, nucleus gigantocellularis pars ventralis, and the ventral (medial) parabrachial nucleus. Sparse labeling was observed throughout the medullary and caudal pontine reticular formation. Several lower brainstem nuclei were found to send strong projections along the medial forebrain bundle to very anterior levels of the forebrain. They were: A1, A2, raphe magnus (rostral part), nucleus incertus, dorsolateral tegmental nucleus, raphe pontis and locus coeruleus. With the exception of the locus coeruleus, attention has only recently been directed to the ascending projections of most of the nuclei mentioned above. Evidence was reviewed indicating that fibers from lower brainstem nuclei with ascending medial forebrain bundle projections distribute to widespread regions of the forebrain.It is concluded from the present findings that several medullary cell groups are capable of exerting a direct effect on the forebrain and that the medial forebrain bundle is the major ascending link between the lower brainstem and the forebrain.     

Callosal connections of suprasylvian visual areas in the cat

After horseradish peroxidase injections in cat's lateral suprasylvian visual area and in areas 17 and 18, labeled callosal neurons are found within the various subdivisions of the lateral suprasylvian area, mostly in regions where the area centralis and vertical meridian are represented. The homotopic callosal projections from lateral suprasylvian area to lateral suprasylvian area originate almost exclusively from layer III. The heterotopic callosal projections from the lateral suprasylvian area to areas 17 and 18 originate mainly from layer VI but also from layer III. Callosal neurons in the lateral suprasylvian area are pyramidal cells (layers III and VI), fusiform and triangular cells (layer VI).The distribution of callosal neurons in the lateral suprasylvian area is similar to that previously found in areas 17 and 18 in the sense that in all these areas callosal neurons are preferentially located near the vertical meridian representation within two radially separated laminae. However, the preponderance of layer VI neurons in the projection from the lateral suprasylvian area to contralateral areas 17 and 18 is different from what was observed in other callosal connections. Since layer VI usually gives rise to corticothalamic projections it is possible that similar feed-back mechanisms may modulate the information sent to the lateral suprasylvian area from the thalamus and the primary visual areas.