title: Synaptic arrangements in the ventral posterolateral nucleus of the squirrel.
abstract: Because murine rodents have no complex synaptic arrangements in the ventral posterolateral nucleus (VPL), we sought to determine if the lack of complexity was a characteristic common to all rodents. We studied the synaptology of VPL in the fox squirrel, Sciurus niger, using electron microscopy. We found vesicle-containing dendrites and complex synaptic arrangements in the squirrel VPL. Therefore, the relative simplicity of the rat and mouse VPL is not a general feature of the rodent somatosensory thalamus.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D051379:Mice; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D051381:Rats; D012377:Rodentia / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D012589:Sciuridae / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013572:Synaptic Vesicles / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013787:Thalamic Nuclei / Q000033:anatomy & histology*