NeuroanatomyAnatomical evidence for direct connections between the shell and core subregions of the rat nucleus accumbens
Section snippets
Animals
Twenty-six adult female Wistar rats (Harlan Centraal Proefdierbedrijf, Zeist, The Netherlands) weighing 180–250g were injected with BDA, and nine animals with PHA-L. All animals were fed ad libitum and housed in cages with enriched food. All experimental procedures were performed according to the guidelines of the ethical committee of animal experimentation, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, that are in accordance with the European Community Council Directive 86/609/EEC. Special care was taken to
Delineation of the shell and core
For the delineation of the shell and core subregions on the basis of the pattern of CaB-immunoreactivity (IR), we refer to previous accounts (Zahm and Brog 1992, Jongen-Rêlo et al 1994; see also Fig. 1). To facilitate the descriptions of the distribution of labeled axons and terminals following anterograde tracer injections or juxtacellularly filling, the shell and core of the Acb have been subdivided on the basis of general anatomical planes that in each experimental case can be reproducibly
Discussion
This study provides the first systematic analysis of the organization of intrastriatal projections in the rat Acb. Using anterograde neuroanatomical tracing and single-cell juxtacellular filling, it was demonstrated that extensive intrastriatal projections exist (Fig. 13). These include reciprocal connections between specific parts of the shell and core. However, fibers originating in the core reached more widespread areas of the shell, including the rostral pole, than those arising in the
Acknowledgments
We thank Dirk de Jong for his support in making the illustrations and Jeroen van Zanten for his assistance with the data analysis. This study was supported by a Program Grant of the Dutch Medical Research Council NWO-ZonMW (903-42-092) and a NWO-ZonMW/INSERM travel grant (910-48-029).
References (57)
- et al.
Morphological and physiological properties of neostriatal neuronsan intracellular horseradish peroxidase study in the rat
Neuroscience
(1982) - et al.
Emotion and motivationthe role of the amygdala, ventral striatum, and prefrontal cortex
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2002) - et al.
Reward, motivation, and reinforcement learning
Neuron
(2002) - et al.
An anterograde neuroanatomical tracing method that shows the detailed morphology of neurons, their axons and terminalsimmunohistochemical localization of an axonally transported plant lectin, Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin (PHA-L)
Brain Res
(1984) - et al.
The nucleus accumbensgateway for limbic structures to reach the motor system?
Prog Brain Res
(1996) - et al.
Integration and segregation of limbic cortico-striatal loops at the thalamic levelan experimental tracing study in rats
J Chem Neuroanat
(1999) - et al.
Specificity in the projection patterns of accumbal core and shell in the rat
Neuroscience
(1991) - et al.
The organization of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuitsopen interconnected rather than closed segregated
Neuroscience
(1994) Ventral striatal control of appetitive motivationrole in ingestive behavior and reward-related learning
Neurosci Biobehav Rev
(2004)- et al.
Current concepts in neuroanatomical tracing
Prog Neurobiol
(2000)