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Synaptic organization and development of the antennal lobe in insects
Author(s) -
Boeckh J.,
Tolbert L. P.
Publication year - 1993
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/jemt.1070240305
Subject(s) - antennal lobe , biology , neuroscience , insect , lobe , cockroach , olfactory system , antenna (radio) , afferent , nervous system , anatomy , ecology , computer science , telecommunications
Abstract Many insects possess a highly developed sense of smell. This paper summarizes the cellular and synaptic organization of the antennal (olfactory) lobe of the insect brain and then reviews morphological and fine‐structural aspects of the development of the lobe. Visualization of synapses between classes of neurons identified by physiological, morphological, or transmitter‐cytochemical properties has provided insights into arrangements of contacts and their possible roles in information processing. Studies of development have revealed the requirement for afferent axons from the antenna for the formation of olfactory glomeruli, where virtually all of the synapses in the lobe occur, and have suggested the possibility that glial cells play a role in the instructive influence of the axons on their target neurons in the lobe. The findings reviewed in this paper are primarily from one representative hemimetabolous insect, the American cockroach, and one representative holometabolous insect, a hawkmoth, and comparisons are made with vertebrate systems when appropriate. © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.