Search results for " Pathways"
showing 10 items of 621 documents
Selective dopaminergic lesions of the ventral tegmental area impair preference for sucrose but not for male sexual pheromones in female mice
2006
The role of the meso-accumbens dopaminergic pathway in reward-related behaviours is the subject of intense investigation. In this regard, here we analyse the effects of specific lesions of dopaminergic cells of the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of female mice on two goal-directed behaviours, namely sucrose preference (intake of sucrose solution vs. water) and preference for male sexual pheromones (exploration of male-soiled vs. clean bedding). The results indicate that partial lesions of the VTA that impair neither locomotion nor general exploratory behaviour reduce the preference for sucrose (over a 48-h period) but do not alter the innate attraction that females display for male sexual phe…
Ascending projections from the optic tectum in the lizard Podarcis hispanica.
1998
The ascending projections of the optic tectum, including their cells of origin, have been studied in the lizard Podarcis hispanica by means of a two-step experimental procedure. First, tracers were injected in the tectum to study the anterograde labeling in the forebrain. Second, the cells of origin of these projections have been identified by analyzing the retrograde labeling after tracer injections in the thalamus, hypothalamus, and pretectum. Three main tectal ascending pathways have been described: the dorsal tecto-thalamic tract (dtt), the medial tecto-thalamic tract (mtt), and the ventral tecto-thalamic tract (vtt). The dtt originates in radial cells of layers 5 and 7 and bipolar cell…
Electrophysiological investigations on the central innervation of the rat and guinea-pig pineal gland
1984
The possible influence of central nervous structures on the electrical activity of single pineal cells was investigated in rat and guinea-pig. In the rat electrical stimulation of the hippocampal formation elicited both single cell responses with different latencies and mostly long-term excitations in single pineal cells, while stimulation of the habenular nuclei caused clear orthodromical responses with different latencies, alterations in the rate of spontaneous electrical activity and evoked discharges of "silent" units. In the guinea-pig electrical stimulation of the paraventricular nucleus influenced predominantly cells in the deeper layers of the posterior part of the pineal gland. Ele…
Nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive vagal afferent fibers in rat superior cervical ganglia
1995
Abstract Chronic (5–14 days) preganglionic denervation of the rat superior cervical ganglia by sectioning the cervical sympathetic trunk resulted in a time-related partial or complete loss of nitric oxide synthase (isoform I)-immunoreactive fibers and terminals surrounding many sympathetic ganglionic neurons. Unexpectedly, denervation unmasked many varicose nitric oxide synthase-immunoreactive fibers, some of which could be traced the entire length of the superior cervical ganglia. Injection of the retrograde tracer Fluorogold into the superior cervical ganglia labeled a population of nodose ganglion cells and of dorsal root ganglion cells from C8 to T3 segments. When the same sections were…
Spinal relay neurons for central control of autonomic pathways in a photoperiodic rodent.
2021
Location and distribution of spinal sympathetic preganglionic neurons projecting to the superior cervical ganglion were investigated in a rodent model organism for photoperiodic regulation, the Djungarian hamster (Phodopus sungorus). Upon unilateral injection of Fluoro-Gold into the superior cervical ganglia, retrograde neuronal tracing demonstrated labeled neurons ipsilateral to the injection site. They were seen in spinal segments C8 to Th5 of which the segments Th1 to Th3 contained about 98% of the labeled cells. Neurons were found in the spinal cord predominantly in the intermediolateral nucleus pars principalis and pars funicularis. At the same time, the central autonomic area and the …
Sympathetic neural activity, metabolic parameters and cardiorespiratory fitness in obese youths.
2017
OBJECTIVE: The main objective of this cross-sectional study is to assess the cardiac autonomic neural activity in the presence of abnormally increased body weight in youths and its relationship to metabolic risk factors and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). METHODS: Sixty-four overweight and obese patients, aged 9-17 years, of both sexes, stratified according to the international BMI cut-off, were enrolled. Continuous ECG was recorded during 15 min in resting conditions, and the heart rate variability (HRV) was measured in the time domain, frequency domain and for nonlinear dynamics. In addition, cardiometabolic risk factors and CRF in effort conditions were assessed. RESULTS: Among the over…
Convergence of olfactory and vomeronasal projections in the rat basal telencephalon
2007
Olfactory and vomeronasal projections have been traditionally viewed as terminating in contiguous non-overlapping areas of the basal telencephalon. Original reports, however, described areas such as the anterior medial amygdala where both chemosensory afferents appeared to overlap. We addressed this issue by injecting dextran amines in the main or accessory olfactory bulbs of rats and the results were analyzed with light and electron microscopes. Simultaneous injections of different fluorescent dextran amines in the main and accessory olfactory bulbs were performed and the results were analyzed using confocal microscopy. Similar experiments with dextran amines in the olfactory bulbs plus Fl…
Unconditioned stimulus pathways to the amygdala: Effects of lesions of the posterior intralaminar thalamus on foot-shock-induced c-Fos expression in …
2008
The lateral nucleus of the amygdala (LA) is a site of convergence for auditory (conditioned stimulus) and foot-shock (unconditioned stimulus) inputs during fear conditioning. The auditory pathways to LA are well characterized, but less is known about the pathways through which foot shock is transmitted. Anatomical tracing and physiological recording studies suggest that the posterior intralaminar thalamic nucleus, which projects to LA, receives both auditory and somatosensory inputs. In the present study we examined the expression of the immediate-early gene c-fos in the LA in rats in response to foot-shock stimulation. We then determined the effects of posterior intralaminar thalamic lesio…
A critical period for experience-dependent remodeling of adult-born neuron connectivity.
2015
Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus (DG) of the adult hippocampus is a process regulated by experience. To understand whether experience also modifies the connectivity of new neurons, we systematically investigated changes in their innervation following environmental enrichment (EE). We found that EE exposure between 2-6 weeks following neuron birth, rather than merely increasing the number of new neurons, profoundly affected their pattern of monosynaptic inputs. Both local innervation by interneurons and to even greater degree long-distance innervation by cortical neurons were markedly enhanced. Furthermore, following EE, new neurons received inputs from CA3 and CA1 inhibitory neurons that w…
Structural and functional identification of two distinct inspiratory neuronal populations at the level of the phrenic nucleus in the rat cervical spi…
2018
The diaphragm is driven by phrenic motoneurons that are located in the cervical spinal cord. Although the anatomical location of the phrenic nucleus and the function of phrenic motoneurons at a single cellular level have been extensively analyzed, the spatiotemporal dynamics of phrenic motoneuron group activity have not been fully elucidated. In the present study, we analyzed the functional and structural characteristics of respiratory neuron population in the cervical spinal cord at the level of the phrenic nucleus by voltage imaging, together with histological analysis of neuronal and astrocytic distribution in the cervical spinal cord. We found spatially distinct two cellular populations…