title: Comparisons of terminal densities of cardiovascular function-related projections from the amygdala subnuclei.
abstract: The amygdala is important in higher-level control of cardiovascular functions. In this study, we compared cardiovascular-related projections among the subnuclei of the amygdala. Biotinylated dextran amine was injected into the central, medial, and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala, and the distributions and densities of anterograde-labeled terminal boutons were analyzed. We found that the medial, basolateral, and central nuclei all had projections into the cardiovascular-related areas of the hypothalamus. However, only the central nucleus had a significant direct projection into the medulla. By contrast, the medial nucleus had limited projections, and the basolateral nucleus had no terminals extending into the medulla. We concluded that the medial, central, and basolateral nuclei of the amygdala may influence cardiovascular-related nuclei through monosynaptic connections with cardiovascular-related nuclei in the hypothalamus and medulla.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, 250 Wu-Hsing Street, Taipei 11031, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Ruei-Jen
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Chiou
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Tzu Chi University, 701 Chung-Yang Road, Section 3, Hualien 97004, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chung-Chih
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Kuo
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science, National Taiwan University, 1 Roosevelt Road, Section 4, Taipei 10617, Taiwan. Electronic address: ctyen@ccms.ntu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Chen-Tung
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Yen
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000166:cytology*; D000818:Animals; D001710:Biotin / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D002319:Cardiovascular System / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D003911:Dextrans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D008297:Male; D008526:Medulla Oblongata / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology; D056347:Neuroanatomical Tract-Tracing Techniques; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D017729:Presynaptic Terminals; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D003911:Dextrans; C076397:biotinylated dextran amine; D001710:Biotin
keywords: Amygdala; Anterograde tracer; Cardiovascular; Hypothalamus; Medulla; PAG