Recent evidence now points to a role of glutamate transmission within the nucleus accumbens (Nacc) in spatial learning and memory. Unfortunately, the role of the distinct classes of glutamate receptors within this structure in mediating the different steps of the memorization process is not clear. The aim of this study therefore was to further investigate this issue, trying to assess the involv...

Achievements made over the past few years have demonstrated the important role of the creatine and phosphocreatine system in the buffering and transport of high-energy phosphates into the brain; however, the non-energetic processes elicited by this guanidine compound in the hippocampus are still poorly understood. In the present study we disclosed that the incubation of rat hippocampal slices w...

In this paper, we investigated the influence of synapses on the cell bodies of trigeminal muscle spindle afferents that lie in the trigeminal mesencephalic nucleus (NVmes), using intracellular recordings in brain stem slices of young rats. Three types of synaptic responses could be evoked by electrical stimulation of the adjacent supratrigeminal, motor, and main sensory nuclei and the intertrig...

Digital imaging microfluorimetry was used to visualize changes in mitochondrial potential and intracellular Ca2+ concentration, [Ca2+]i, in thick slices of rat hippocampus. Electrical activity, especially stimulus train-induced bursting (STIB) activity, produced slow, prolonged changes in mitochondrial potential within hippocampal slices as revealed by fluorescence measurements with rhodamine d...

Hypocretins (hcrt), also known as orexins, play a critical role in reward-seeking behavior for natural rewards and drugs of abuse. The mesolimbic dopamine pathway that projects from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) is critically involved in the neural mechanisms underlying reward-seeking and motivation. Hcrt immunopositive fibers densely project to the shell of th...

Dopaminergic neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and neural processes in the basolateral (BLA) and central (CeN) amygdala nuclei are implicated in associative reward learning. Given their direct and indirect connections with the NAc and ventral tegmental area (VTA), both the BLA and CeN may regulate the mesoaccumbens dopamine (DA) system in rewarding situations. Electrical stimulat...

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) can modulate transmitter release. Striatal [H]dopamine ([H]DA) release is regulated by presynaptic nAChR on dopaminergic terminals and 7 nAChR on neighboring glutamatergic afferents. Here, we explored the role of 7 nAChR in the modulation of [H]noradrenaline ([H]NA) release from rat hippocampal slices. The nicotinic agonist anatoxin-a (AnTx) evoked mon...

GABAergic synaptic responses were studied by direct, monosynaptic activation of GABAergic interneurons in the CA1 region of in vitro hippocampal slices from rats made tolerant to the benzodiazepine, flurazepam. Monosynaptic IPSPs were elicited in CA1 pyramidal neurons, following 1 week oral flurazepam administration, by electrical stimulation at the stratum oriens/stratum pyramidale or stratum ...

Our aim was to study the effect of estradiol (E2) on pulsatile GnRH secretion in vitro in relation to sex and development. When hypothalamic explants obtained from 5- and 15-d-old female rats were exposed to E2 (10(-7) m), a reduction of GnRH interpulse interval (IPI) occurred but not at 25 and 50 d of age. This effect was prevented by the estrogen receptor antagonist ICI 182.780 and the AMPA/k...

Central serotonergic neurones control reflex parasympathetic outflow to the heart, airways and bladder in a number of species, and different 5-HT receptor subtypes are involved in this effect. 5-HTja and 5 -HT3 receptors in the brainstem facilitate these reflexes, whilst 5-HTjb/id, 5-HT2 and 5 -HT4 receptors inhibit them. Recently, central 5 -HT7 receptors have been implicated in bladder reflex...