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Octopamine in the locust brain: Cellular distribution and functional significance in an arousal mechanism
Author(s) -
Stern Michael
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
microscopy research and technique
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.536
H-Index - 118
eISSN - 1097-0029
pISSN - 1059-910X
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0029(19990501)45:3<135::aid-jemt1>3.0.co;2-g
Subject(s) - octopamine (neurotransmitter) , locust , neuroscience , arousal , biology , mechanism (biology) , biogenic amine , central nervous system , neurotransmitter , biochemistry , serotonin , ecology , philosophy , receptor , epistemology
This review summarizes the distribution of octopamine‐like immunoreactive neurons in the brain of the locust and the functional significance of a subset of them in an arousal mechanism in the visual system. A small set of identifiable octopamine‐immunoreactive neurons lies in the ventromedial brain. Their cell bodies are large and readily accessible, which allows their removal and analysis of their biogenic amine content using gas‐chromatography mass‐spectrometry to confirm that they are genuinely octopaminergic. The neurons project from the central brain to the optic lobes where they arborize extensively in the medulla and lobula. There they release octopamine in response to multimodal input in the central brain. This evokes dishabitutaion in the locust's movement‐detection system, suggesting an arousal mechanism. Micrsoc. Res. Tech. 45:135–141, 1999. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.