Presentation Details
| Organization of Central Nucleus of the Amygdala Neurons that Project to the Caudal Nucleus of the Solitary Tract, Rostral Nucleus of the Solitary Tract, and Parabrachial Nucleus. Abigail R.Muccilli, Robert F.Lundy. University of Louisville School of Medicine, Louisville, KY, USA |
Abstract
The nucleus of the solitary tract (NST) and parabrachial nucleus (PBN) are the first and second central synapses for ascending gustatory signals from the oral cavity and visceral signals from the gastrointestinal tract. Moreover, spatially separate regions of the NST are associated with these distinct sensory inputs, with the caudal NST (cNST) processing visceral information and the rostral NST (rNST) gustatory information. We have previously shown that neurons in the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) that project to the rNST and PBN are largely distinct populations. The present experiments tested the premise that CeA projections to the cNST also arise from a subpopulation of neurons distinct from those projecting to rNST or PBN. In C57 wild-type mice, we injected different retrograde tracers into the cNST and rNST or into the cNST and PBN. Following paired cNST/rNST injections, we counted a total of 1,864 retrogradely labeled CeA neurons with 661 positive for both fluorescent markers, considered dual target neurons (35.4%). For paired cNST/PBN injections, 122 out of 991 retrograde labeled CeA neurons contained both markers (12.3%). Together with our previous results, the present observations suggest that the CeA is organized into large subpopulations of intermingled neurons that target distinct brainstem nuclei. Given that CeA neurons are GABAergic, this could allow for activation of a specific CeA-brainstem pathway by extrinsic inputs and simultaneous inhibition of other CeA-brainstem pathways by intrinsic inhibitory connectivity.
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