Direct projections from the magnocellular division of the basal nucleus of the amygdala to the principal part of the cortical masticatory area in the macaque monkey.
Direct projections from the amygdala to the cortical masticatory area were found in the macaque monkey. Under the guidance of intracortical microstimulation, retrograde tracers were injected into multiple jaw movement-related regions of the frontal lobe. The cortical masticatory area, especially its principal part, stimulation of which elicited rhythmic jaw movement, was the only site of injection that produced neuronal labeling in the amygdala. The cells of origin of such projections were localized in the medial aspect of the magnocellular division of the basal nucleus through its rostral level. No labeled neurons were observed in the amygdala after tracer injection into any other cortical jaw movement-related region. The present results suggest that the amygdaloid input to the cortical masticatory area may exert some modulatory influence on the generation of masticatory rhythm.
Hatanaka
N
N
Department of Neurophysiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience, Fuchu, Japan.
Tokuno
H
H
Nambu
A
A
Takada
M
M
D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology*; D008251:Macaca; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*