title: Comparison of the distribution of calcium-binding proteins and intrinsic connectivity in the lateral nucleus of the rat, monkey, and human amygdala.
abstract: A large amount of anatomic, electrophysiologic, pharmacologic, and behavioral data published over the past decade has provided novel insight into the function of the amygdala in the rat. An important question remains as to how well the data obtained in the rat amygdala can be extrapolated to primates. To address this issue from a functional neuroanatomic point of view, we compared the recently published data on the distribution of calcium-binding proteins (parvalbumin, calbindin-D(28k), calretinin) and intrinsic connectivity in the rat, monkey, and human amygdala. The aim of our ongoing analysis is twofold: (1) to determine whether the nuclei with the "same name" in the three species are chemoarchitectonically similar and (2) to determine whether the intradivisional, interdivisional, and internuclear connectivity is similarly organized in the rat and monkey. We focused on the lateral nucleus, which is the major recipient of thalamic and cortical sensory information directed to the amygdala and provides the most widespread intraamygdaloid connections. Our analysis suggests many similarities in the organization of chemoarchitectonics and intrinsic connectivity of the different subdivisions of the lateral nucleus of the rat, monkey, and human amygdala. There are also dissimilarities, however, which might relate to differences in the function of the amygdala in rodents and primates.
authors.affiliation: Epilepsy Research Laboratory, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, University of Kuopio, PO Box 1627, FIN-70 211, Kuopio, Finland. asla.pitkanen@uku.fi
authors.forename: Asla
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pitkänen
authors.forename: Samuli
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kemppainen
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D000882:Haplorhini; D006801:Humans; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology; D009928:Organ Specificity / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D002135:Calcium-Binding Proteins