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Projections from the substantia nigra pars reticulata to the motor thalamus of the rat: Single axon reconstructions and immunohistochemical study
Author(s) -
Kha Hoa Ton,
Finkelstein David Isaac,
Tomas Doris,
Drago John,
Pow David Vaughan,
Horne Malcolm Kenneth
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.1367
Subject(s) - vesicular acetylcholine transporter , choline acetyltransferase , neuroscience , substantia nigra , biology , thalamus , acetylcholine , axon , anatomy , glutamate receptor , nucleus , retrograde tracing , cholinergic , dopamine , endocrinology , biochemistry , receptor , dopaminergic
This is a study in the rat of the distribution of specific neurotransmitters in neurones projecting from the substantia nigra reticulata (SNR) to the ventrolateral (VL) and ventromedial (VM) thalamic nuclei. Individual axons projecting from the SNR to these thalamic nuclei have also been reconstructed following small injection of the anterograde tracer dextran biotin into the the SNR. Analysis of reconstructions revealed two populations of SNR neurones projecting onto the VL and VM thalamic nuclei. One group projects directly onto the VM and VL, and the other projects to the VM/VL and to the parafascicular nucleus. In another set of experiments Fluoro‐Gold was injected into the VL/VM to label SNR projection neurones retrogradely, and immunohistochemistry was performed to determine the distribution of choline acetyltransferase (ChAT), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT), γ ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glutamate in Fluoro‐Gold‐ labelled SNR projection neurones. Most SNR‐VL/VM thalamic projection neurones were immunoreactive to acetylcholine or glutamate, whereas only 25% of the projection neurones were found to be immunoreactive to GABA. J. Comp. Neurol. 440:20–30, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.