Search results for "Piriform Cortex"
showing 10 items of 29 documents
Piriform cortex alterations in the Ts65Dn model for down syndrome
2020
The piriform cortex is involved in olfactory information processing, that is altered in Down Syndrome. Moreover, piriform cortex has a crucial involvement in epilepsy generation and is one of the first regions affected in Alzheimer's Disease, both maladies being prevalent among Down Syndrome individuals. In this work, we studied the alterations in neuronal morphology, synaptology and structural plasticity in the piriform cortex of the Ts65Dn mouse model, which is the most used model for the study of this syndrome and mimics some of their alterations. We have observed that Ts65Dn piriform cortex displays: a reduction in dendritic arborisation, a higher density of inhibitory synapses (GAD67),…
Spontaneous brain processing of the mammary pheromone in rabbit neonates prior to milk intake.
2016
International audience; Chemical signals play a critical role in interindividual communication, including mother-young relationships. Detecting odor cues released by the mammary area is vital to the newborn's survival. European rabbit females secret a mammary pheromone (MP) in their milk, which releases sucking related orocephalic movements in newborns. Pups spontaneously display these typical movements at birth, independently of any perinatal learning. Our previous Fos mapping study (Charra et al., 2012) performed in 4-day-old rabbits showed that the MP activated a network of brain regions involved in osmoregulation, odor processing and arousal in comparison with a control odor. However, a…
Neurochemical Phenotype of Reelin Immunoreactive Cells in the Piriform Cortex Layer II
2016
Reelin, a glycoprotein expressed by Cajal-Retzius neurons throughout the marginal layer of developing neocortex, has been extensively shown to play an important role during brain development, guiding neuronal migration and detachment from radial glia. During the adult life, however, many studies have associated Reelin expression to enhanced neuronal plasticity. Although its mechanism of action in the adult brain remains mostly unknown, Reelin is expressed mainly by a subset of mature interneurons. Here, we confirm the described phenotype of this subpopulation in the adult neocortex. We show that these mature interneurons, although being in close proximity, lack polysialylated neural cell ad…
Afferent and Efferent Connections of the Cortex-Amygdala Transition Zone in Mice
2016
The transitional zone between the ventral part of the piriform cortex and the anterior cortical nucleus of the amygdala, named the cortex-amygdala transition zone (CxA), shows two differential features that allow its identification as a particular structure. First, it receives dense cholinergic and dopaminergic innervations as compared to the adjacent piriform cortex and amygdala, and second, it receives projections from the main and accessory olfactory bulbs. In this work we have studied the pattern of afferent and efferent projections of the CxA, which are mainly unknown, by using the retrograde tracer Fluorogold and the anterograde tracer biotinylated dextranamine. The results show that …
Pregnancy Changes the Response of the Vomeronasal and Olfactory Systems to Pups in Mice
2020
Motherhood entails changes in behavior with increased motivation for pups, induced in part by pregnancy hormones acting upon the brain. This work explores whether this alters sensory processing of pup-derived chemosignals. To do so, we analyse the expression of immediate early genes (IEGs) in the vomeronasal organ (VNO; Egr1) and centers of the olfactory and vomeronasal brain pathways (cFos) in virgin and late-pregnant females exposed to pups, as compared to buttons (socially neutral control). In pup-exposed females, we quantified diverse behaviors including pup retrieval, sniffing, pup-directed attack, nest building and time in nest or on nest, as well as time off nest. Pups induce Egr1 ex…
Characterization and isolation of immature neurons of the adult mouse piriform cortex
2015
Physiological studies indicate that the piriform or primary olfactory cortex of adult mammals exhibits a high degree of synaptic plasticity. Interestingly, a subpopulation of cells in the layer II of the adult piriform cortex expresses neurodevelopmental markers, such as the polysialylated form of neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM) or doublecortin (DCX). This study analyzes the nature, origin, and potential function of these poorly understood cells in mice. As previously described in rats, most of the PSA-NCAM expressing cells in layer II could be morphologically classified as tangled cells and only a small proportion of larger cells could be considered semilunar-pyramidal transitiona…
Effects of Dopamine on the Immature Neurons of the Adult Rat Piriform Cortex
2020
The layer II of the adult piriform cortex (PCX) contains a numerous population of immature neurons. Interestingly, in both mice and rats, most, if not all, these cells have an embryonic origin. Moreover, recent studies from our laboratory have shown that they progressively mature into typical excitatory neurons of the PCX layer II. Therefore, the adult PCX is considered a “non-canonical” neurogenic niche. These immature neurons express the polysialylated form of the neural cell adhesion molecule (PSA-NCAM), a molecule critical for different neurodevelopmental processes. Dopamine (DA) is a relevant neurotransmitter in the adult CNS, which also plays important roles in neural development and …
Occurrence of new neurons in the piriform cortex
2015
In a recent mini-review (Yuan et al., 2015), support is given to the idea that neurons are generated during adulthood in the mammalian piriform cortex (PC), their periventricular origin being also discussed. It is known since long time that a subpopulation of cortical layer II cells in the adult PC of rodents express immature neuronal markers such as polysialylated NCAM (PSA-NCAM; Seki and Arai, 1991; Bonfanti et al., 1992) and doublecortin (DCX; Nacher et al., 2002). These immature neurons have been found in most mammals studied so far, their occurrence being restricted to the paleocortex in rodents (Seki and Arai, 1991; Bonfanti et al., 1992; Nacher et al., 2002), and extended to neocorti…
Differential efferent projections of the anterior, posteroventral, and posterodorsal subdivisions of the medial amygdala in mice
2012
The medial amygdaloid nucleus (Me) is a key structure in the control of sociosexual behaviour in mice. It receives direct projections from the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, as well as an important hormonal input. To better understand its behavioural role, in this work we investigate the structures receiving information from the Me, by analysing the efferent projections from its anterior (MeA), posterodorsal (MePD) and posteroventral (MePV) subdivisions, using anterograde neuronal tracing with biotinylated and tetrametylrhodamine-conjugated dextranamines.The Me is strongly interconnected with the rest of the chemosensory amygdala, but shows only moderate projections to the central nucl…
LRRK2 is expressed in areas affected by Parkinson's disease in the adult mouse brain.
2006
The leucine-rich repeat kinase 2 (LRRK2) gene was recently found to have multiple mutations that are causative for autosomal dominant inherited Parkinson's disease (PD). Previously, we used Northern blot analysis to show that this gene was expressed in the cerebellum, cerebral cortex, medulla, spinal cord, occipital pole, frontal lobe, temporal lobe and caudate putamen. However, a more comprehensive map of LRRK2 mRNA localization in the central nervous system is still lacking. In this study we have mapped the distribution of the mRNA encoding for LRRK2 using nonradioactive in situ hybridization. We detected a moderate expression of this PD-related gene throughout the adult B2B6 mouse brain.…