Recent evidence suggests that a circuit involving the centromedian-parafascicular (Pf) thalamus and basal ganglia is critical for a shift away from biased actions. In particular, excitatory input from the Pf onto striatal cholinergic neurons may facilitate behavioral flexibility. Accumulating evidence indicates that an endogenous increase in dorsomedial striatal acetylcholine (ACh) output enhan...

The comparative distributions of the vasopressin V1b receptor (V1bR) and the oxytocin receptor (OTR) messenger RNAs (mRNAs) are described in male rat brain using in situ hybridization histochemistry. V1bR transcripts were present in forebrain and hypothalamus and were less abundant in mid- and hindbrain regions, similar to the gradient observed with OTR transcripts. Microscopic analyses indicat...

BACKGROUND The human red nucleus (Nr) is comparatively less well-studied than that of cats or monkeys. Given the functional importance of reticular and midbrain structures in control of movement and locomotion as well as from an evolutionary perspective, we investigated the nature and extent of any differences in Nr projections to the olivary complex in quadrupedal and bipedal species. Using ne...

In a patient with a unilateral embolic infarct in the left posterior thalamo-subthalamic paramedian artery territory, neuropathological studies showed involvement of the intralaminar, dorsomedial, and internal part of the ventral posterior nuclei of the thalamus, of the rostral part of the mesencephalic reticular formation, and of the posterior commissure. The patient showed upgaze palsy for vo...

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is one of the important endogenous orexigenic peptides. In these studies we employed c-Fos immunostaining and a selective NPY Y1 receptor antagonist to identify the site of action of NPY in the hypothalamus. The results showed that intracerebroventricular administration of NPY stimulated feeding and increased immunostaining of c-Fos, a product of the immediate early gene c-...

Introduction: Arginine-phenylalanine-amide-related peptide-3 (RFRP-3) is an inhibitor of gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion and an appetizer. Kisspeptin is a stimulator of GnRH and a regulator of energy metabolism. The objectives of the present study were to compare the effect of long term malnutrition on expression of RFRP-3 mRNA in dorsomedial hypothalamic nucleus (DMH) and KiSS-...

Leptin has profound effects on feeding, metabolism, and neuroendocrine status. Evidence indicates that the hypothalamus coordinates these responses, though the specific brain pathways engaged by leptin remain obscure. The paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (PVH) regulates pituitary gland function and feeding, and innervates autonomic preganglionic neurons, making it a candidate to regu...

Endocannabinoids acting at CB1 cannabinoid receptors (CB1) increase appetite. In view of the predominant presynaptic localization of CB1 in the brain, we tested the hypothesis that the orexigenic effect of endocannabinoids involves inhibition of the release of a tonically active anorexigenic mediator, such as the peptide product of the cocaine- and amphetamine-related transcript (CART). The CB1...

introduction: nigrothalamocortical tract is one of the important outputs of the basal ganglia, but its role in motor disturbances is still vauge, beacause there is little informations on its connection structure. some electrophysiological and pharmacological studies report that non-dopaminergic outputs originate from reticular part of substatia nigra to thalamus. in this study the topographical...

A local infusion of d-amphetamine (d-AMPH) into the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) inhibited neuronal activity in this site and produced a mirror-image excitation in the ventrolateral, but not dorsomedial, neostriatum. This effect, which was mimicked by 5-methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine, a serotonin autoreceptor agonist, was not altered by pretreatment with alpha-methyl-p-tyrosine. Similar regional ...