introduction: activity of the paragigantocellularis (pgi) nucleus located in the rostral ventrolateral medulla is the mediator of dependence, tolerance and withdrawal syndrome. the most important systems which change their activity during morphine consumption include glutaminergic, opioidergicand purinergic (especially adenosine) receptors in the pgi nucleus. however, it has been shown that the...

INTRODUCTION Beside its autonomic functions, the nucleus paragigantocellularis lateralis (LPGi) is involved in the descending pain modulation. 17β-Estradiol is a neuroactive steroid found in several brain areas such as LPGi. Intra-LPGi microinjection of 17β-estradiol can elicit the analgesic responses. 17β-Estradiol modulates nociception by binding to estrogenic receptors as well as allosteric ...

Introduction: Beside its autonomic functions, the nucleus paragigantocellularis lateralis (LPGi) is involved in the descending pain modulation. 17β-Estradiol is a neuroactive steroid found in several brain areas such as LPGi. Intra-LPGi microinjection of 17β-estradiol can elicit the analgesic responses. 17β-Estradiol modulates nociception by binding to estrogenic receptors as wel...

In this study the effect of adenosine and caffeine on spontaneous activity of paragigantocellularis (PGi) neurons was investigated. The spontaneous activity of PGi neurons was significantly decreased by microinjection of adenosine (10 nM, 0.5 µl) into PGi nucleus of both control and morphine-dependent rats. The decrease in firing rate of PGi neurons of morphine-dependent rats was greater than t...

The spinal and peripheral innervation of the clitoris and vagina are fairly well understood. However, little is known regarding supraspinal control of these pelvic structures. The multisynaptic tracer pseudorabies virus (PRV) was used to map the brain neurons that innervate the clitoris and vagina. To delineate forebrain input on PRV-labeled cells, the anterograde tracer biotinylated dextran am...

The supraspinal regulation of genital reflexes is poorly understood. The brainstem nucleus paragigantocellularis (nPGi) of rats is a well-established source of tonic inhibition of genital reflexes. However, the organization, gonadal steroid receptor expression, and activity of nPGi afferents during sex have not been fully characterized in male and female rats. To delineate the anatomical and ph...

293 words). 23 We used epifluorescence microscopy and a voltage sensitive dye, di-8-ANEPPS, to study 24 changes in membrane potential during hypercapnia with or without synaptic blockade in 25 chemosensory brainstem nuclei: the locus coeruleus (LC), the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), 26 lateral paragigantocellularis nucleus (PGCL), raphé pallidus and raphé obscurus, and in putative 27 non...

Recent anatomic and physiologic experiments revealed that a major afferent to the nucleus locus coeruleus (LC) is the nucleus paragigantocellularis (PGi) in the rostra1 ventrolateral medulla (Aston-Jones et al., 1988). In the present studies, responses of LC neurons to electrical activation of PGi were characterized in anesthetized rats. Low-intensity stimulation of PGi synaptically hctivated 7...

The Nucleus of the Solitary Tract (NTS) receives gustatory and visceral information from afferent fibers in the vagus and projects to the Nucleus Paragigantocellularis (PGi), among several other brain region. PGi sends excitatory fibers, mostly glutamatergic, to the Locus Coeruleus (LC). In turn, LC sends noradrenergic projections to many areas of the brain, including hippocampus (HIPP) and amy...