The recently discovered neuropeptide orphanin FQ (OFQ), and its opioid receptor-like (ORL1) receptor, exhibit structural features suggestive of the micro, kappa, and delta opioid systems. The anatomic distribution of OFQ immunoreactivity and mRNA expression has been reported recently. In the present analysis, we compare the distribution of orphanin receptor mRNA expression with that of orphanin...

We have mapped the macaque amygdala for the distribution of synaptic zinc (Zn), a co-factor of glutamate implicated in plasticity, as well as in several excitotoxic and other pathophysiological conditions. In brief, we found that the amygdala is Zn enriched in all nuclear groups (i.e., basolateral and cortical groups, as well as central and medial nuclei) but with marked differences in density....

Opioids have long been known to have an important role in feeding behavior, particularly related to the rewarding aspects of food. Considerable behavioral evidence suggests that sucrose consumption induces endogenous opioid release, affecting feeding behavior as well as other opioid-mediated behaviors, such as analgesia, dependence, and withdrawal. In the present study, rats were given access t...

How the nucleus accumbens integrates information from multiple upstream regions has been a central question for decades. In this issue of Neuron, Britt et al. (2012) photostimulate glutamatergic axons from the amygdala, prefrontal cortex, and hippocampus in the nucleus accumbens, characterizing the functional role of each pathway both in vivo and ex vivo.

Background Adolescent intermittent ethanol exposure causes long-lasting alterations in brain epigenetic mechanisms. Melanocortin and neuropeptide Y signaling interact and are affected by ethanol exposure in the brain. Here, the persistent effects of adolescent intermittent ethanol on alpha-melanocyte stimulating hormone, melanocortin 4 receptor, and neuropeptide Y expression and their regulatio...

Neurogenesis in the rat amygdala was examined with 3H-thymidine radiography. The animals were the offspring of pregnant females given two injections of 3H-thymidine on consecutive days in an overlapping series: Embryonic day (E) 12 + E13, E l 3 + E14. . . E21 + E22. On 60 days of age, the percentage of labelled cells and the proportion of cells added during each day of formation were determined...

effects of intra-central amygdala administration of l-arginine, a nitric oxide precursor, and ng-nitro-l-arginine methyl-ester (l name), a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor, on the morphine-induced sensitization and also on the expression of morphine-induced place conditioning in rats were studied. subcutaneous (s.c.) administration of morphine (2.5, 5 and 7.5 mg/kg) induced place conditioning. r...