title: Evidence for a multi-compartmental histochemical organization of the nucleus accumbens in the rat.
abstract: In the present study, the compartmental organization of the nucleus accumbens was investigated by comparing the pattern of leu-enkephalin immunoreactivity with that of the opioid receptor ligand, naloxone, an established marker for the compartmental organization of the neostriatum. Both patterns have a nonhomogeneous, patch-like appearance throughout the rostrocaudal extent of the nucleus and show a good, mutual correspondence. In the core of the nucleus accumbens as well as in the border region between the nucleus accumbens and the caudate-putamen, leu-enkephalin-rich areas are in register with opioid receptor-dense areas. In the shell region the precise relationship between the enkephalin and the naloxone patterns could not be established. A comparison of the connectivity patterns and neurochemical characteristics of the opioid receptor-dense compartments in the nucleus accumbens with those in the caudate-putamen reveals major discrepancies between these two striatal subdivisions. We therefore conclude that, rather than a bicompartmental patch/striosome-matrix organization, the nucleus accumbens has a multicompartmental organization.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Research Institute Neurosciences Vrije Universiteit, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anatomy and Embryology, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Jongen-Rĕlo
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Groenewegen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Voorn
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001345:Autoradiography; D001479:Basal Ganglia / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D002421:Caudate Nucleus / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D004745:Enkephalins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009270:Naloxone / Q000378:metabolism; D009714:Nucleus Accumbens / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D011699:Putamen / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D011957:Receptors, Opioid / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004745:Enkephalins; D011957:Receptors, Opioid; D009270:Naloxone