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Adrenergic and noradrenergic innervation of the midbrain ventral tegmental area and retrorubral field: prominent inputs from medullary homeostatic centers.
- Source :
-
The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience [J Neurosci] 2009 Mar 18; Vol. 29 (11), pp. 3613-26. - Publication Year :
- 2009
-
Abstract
- Adrenergic agents modulate the activity of midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons. However, the sources of noradrenergic and adrenergic inputs are not well characterized. Immunostaining for dopamine beta-hydroxylase revealed fibers within dopamine (DA) neuron areas, with the highest density in the retrorubral field (A8 cell group), followed by the VTA (A10 cell group), and very few fibers within substantia nigra compacta. A less dense, but a similar pattern of fibers was also found for the epinephrine marker, phenylethanolamine N-methyl transferase. Injection of the retrograde tracer wheat germ agglutinin-apo (inactivated) horseradish peroxidase conjugated to colloidal gold, or cholera toxin subunit b, revealed that the noradrenergic innervation of the A10 and A8 regions arise primarily from A1, A2, A5, and locus ceruleus neurons. Selective lesions of the ventral noradrenergic bundle confirmed a prominent innervation from A1 and A2 areas. Retrogradely labeled epinephrine neurons were found mainly in the C1 area. The identification of medullary noradrenergic and adrenergic afferents to DA neuron areas indicates new pathways for visceral-related inputs to reward-related areas in the midbrain.
- Subjects :
- Adrenergic Fibers chemistry
Animals
Male
Medulla Oblongata chemistry
Medulla Oblongata cytology
Mesencephalon chemistry
Mesencephalon cytology
Neural Pathways chemistry
Neural Pathways cytology
Neural Pathways physiology
Norepinephrine analysis
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Ventral Tegmental Area chemistry
Ventral Tegmental Area cytology
Adrenergic Fibers physiology
Homeostasis physiology
Medulla Oblongata physiology
Mesencephalon physiology
Norepinephrine physiology
Ventral Tegmental Area physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1529-2401
- Volume :
- 29
- Issue :
- 11
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 19295165
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.4632-08.2009