CONNECTIONS OF THE OVAL NUCLEUS AND ITS ADJACENT AREAS OF THE BED NUCLEI OF THE STRIA TERMINALIS IN THE RAT. AFFERENT CONNECTIONS——A FLUOROGOLD AND WGA-HRP RETROGRADE TRACT-TRACING STUDY / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

The present experiments were designed to study the afferent connections of the oval nucleus (Ov) of the bed nuclei of the stria terminalis (BST) using fluoro-gold (FG) and WGA-HRP as retrograde tracers. After injection of FG or WGA-HRP into the Ov area of the male SpragueDawley rats, a number of retrogradely labeled neurons were observed in the piriform cortex, fundus striati, subiculum, preoptie areas, horizontal limb of the diagonal band, ventral pallidum, magnocellular preoptic area, central (Ce), medial and cortical nuclei of the amygdala. A few neurons in the midline nuclei of the thalamus. were labeled. Many labeled neurons were found in the anterior, dorsal and lateral hypothalamic areas, ventral medial, arcuate and premammillary nuclei of the hypo thalamus. In the brainstem many labeled neurons were seen in the ventral part of the midbrain central gray, dorsal raphe nucleus, pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus, ventral tegmental area, compact zone of the substantia nigra, interpeduncular nuclei, interfascicular nucleus, raphe nuclei, parabrachial nuclei, locus coeruleus, mesencephalie trigeminal nucleus, dorsal vagal complex, A_5 and A_1 cell groups.In general, the distribution patterns of the labeled neurons of both tracers were quite similar except that FG labeled neurons showed much longer processes than WGA-HRP's, and some FG labeled neurons were also found in a few contralateral structures, such as central and medial nuclei of the amygdala and the horizontal limb of the diagonal band, where no WGA-HRP labeled neurons were observed.The results of this retrograde tract-tracing study together with our previous. anterograde tract-tracing study indicate that there are reciprocal connections between the Ov and the Ce, posterior part of the lateral hypothalamus and several brainstem structures.