BRAINSTEM PROJECTIONS TO THE PREFRONTAL CORTEX IN THE RAT——A WGA—HRP STUDY / 解剖学报

ABSTRACT

The afferent projections of the prefrontal cortex'from the brainstem werestudied by using WGA-HRP technique in 25 rats. Following WGA-HRP injections into the dorsal part of anterior cingulate cortex, prelimbic cortex, and dorsal agranular insular cortex, three groups of retrograde labeled neurons were observed in the brainstem. First group was the monoaminergic neurons, in which the locus coeruleus, ventral tegmental area, compact part of substantia nigra, nucleus raphe dorsalis, nucleus eentralis superior, nucleus linearis caudalis widely projected to the every part of the prefrontal cortex, but the quantitative difference of the projections to different parts of the prefrontal cortex from the lateral reticular nucleus, commissural nucleus, nucleus raphe magnus, A_4, A_5, parabrachial nuclei, reticular part of substantia nigra and the nucleus linearis rostralis was also found. Second group was the nuclei related with oculomotor action, such as E-W nucleus, periventricular gray substance, reticular formation of mesencephalon and the nucleus pontis oralis. Third group was-the sensory nucleus, such as parabrachial nucleus, main sensory nucleus of the trigeminal nerve and the commissural nucleus.