Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Electrophysiological evidence for a projection from medial prefrontal and anterior limbic cortex toward the medial preoptic area in the cat

  • Regular Papers
  • Published:
Experimental Brain Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

Neurons in cat medial prefrontal cortex, anterior limbic cortex and possibly the indusium griseum were identified by antidromic invasion as having axonal projections towards the medial preoptic region, using both macro- and microstimulation techniques. These projecting axons were found to be of slow conduction velocity (0.2–4.8 m/s) and to in some cases also send branches towards the anteromedial thalamus, mediodorsal thalamus, ventromedial tegmentum, basolateral amygdala or medial forebrain bundle. Threshold-depth curves for axons excited by microstimulation in the medial preoptic region were very steep, with proportionality constants of 0.3–7.1 μm/μA. Calculations based on the threshold-depth curves confirmed that microstimulation was most probably only activating axons within the MPO, and current spread to lateral fibers of passage following macrostimulation in the MPO was not detected in the branching studies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abzug C, Maeda M, Peterson BW, Wilson VJ (1974) Cervical branching of lumbar vestibular axons. J Physiol (Lond) 243: 499–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Bleier R (1961) The hypothalamus of the cat. Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore

    Google Scholar 

  • Boulant JA (1980) Hypothalamic control of thermoregulation. In: Morgane PJ, Panksepp J (eds) Behavioural studies of the hypothalamus. Handbook of the hypothalamus, Vol 3, Part A. Marcel Dekker Inc, New York Basel, pp 1–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Carstens E, MacKinnon JD, Guinan M (1982) Inhibition of spinal dorsal horn neuronal responses to noxious skin heating by medial preoptic and septal stimulation in the cat. J Neurophysiol 48: 981–989

    Google Scholar 

  • Catsman-Berrevoets CE, Kuypers HGJM (1981) A search for corticospinal collaterals to thalamus and mesencephalon by means of multiple retrograde fluorescent tracers in rat and cat. Brain Res 218: 15–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Cullheim S (1978) Relations between cell body size, axon diameter and axon conduction velocity of cat sciatic a-motoneurons stained with horseradish peroxidase. Neurosci Lett 8: 17–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Deniau JM, Hammond C, Riszk A, Feger J (1978) Electrophysiological properties of identified output neurons of the rat substantia nigra (pars compacta and pars reticulata): evidences for the existence of branched neurons. Exp Brain Res 32: 409–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Edinger HM, Siegel A, Troiano R (1975) Effect of stimulation of prefrontal cortex and amygdala on diencephalic neurons. Brain Res 97: 17–31

    Google Scholar 

  • Endo K, Araki T, Yagi N (1973) The distribution and pattern of axon branching of pyramidal tract cells. Brain Res 57: 484–491

    Google Scholar 

  • Hart BL, Haugen CM, Peterson DM (1973) Effects of medial preoptic-anterior hypothalamus lesions on mating behaviour of male cats. Brain Res 54: 177–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Heath RG, Harper JW (1976) Descending projections of the rostral septal region: an electrophysiological-histological study in the cat. Exp Neurol 50: 536–560

    Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard JI, Mills RG, Sirett NE (1985) Distribution of osmosensitive cells in the preoptic and adjacent regions of cat brain. Brain Res 345: 402–405

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyland BI, Sirett NE, Hubbard JI (1983) Electrophysiological evidence for percallosal connections of the medial preoptic region in the cat. Proc Univ Otago Med Sch 61: 40–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyland BI, Sirett NE, Hubbard JI (1985) Some medial prefrontal/anterior limbic cortex projections to medial preoptic area branch to other subcortical sites in the cat. Neurosci Lett Suppl 19: S74

    Google Scholar 

  • Irle E, Markowitsch HJ, Streicher M (1984) Cortical and subcortical, including sensory-related, afferents to the thalamic mediodorsal nucleus of the cat. J Hirnforsch 25: 29–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Jankowska E, Roberts WJ (1972) An electrophysiological demonstration of the axonal projections of single spinal interneurones in the cat. J Physiol (Lond) 222: 597–622

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaitz SS, Robertson RT (1981) Thalamic connections with limbic cortex. II. Corticothalamic projections. J Comp Neurol 195: 527–545

    Google Scholar 

  • Kita H, Oomura Y (1982) An HRP study of the afferent connections to rat medial hypothalamic region. Brain Res Bull 8: 53–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Koslow M, Bak A, Li CL (1973) C-fiber excitability in the cat. Exp Neurol 41: 745–753

    Google Scholar 

  • Krettek JE, Price JL (1978) Amygdaloid projections to subcortical structures within the basal forebrain and brainstem in the rat and cat. J Comp Neurol 178: 225–254

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lipski J (1981) Antidromic activation of neurons as an analytic tool in the study of the central nervous system. J Neurosci Meth 4: 1–32

    Google Scholar 

  • Löfving B (1961) Cardiovascular adjustments induced from the rostral cingulate gyrus. Acta Physiol Scand 53, Suppl 184: 1–82

    Google Scholar 

  • Lohman AHM, Russchen FT (1981) Cortical projections to the amygdaloid complex in the cat. In: Ben-Ari Y (ed) The amygdaloid complex. INSERM Symposium 20. Elsevier/North-Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, pp 63–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Mancia M, Zanchetti A (1981) Hypothalamic control of autonomic functions. In: Morgane P, Panksepp J (eds) Behavioural studies of the hypothalamus. Handbook of the hypothalamus Vol 3, Part B. Marcel Dekker, New York Basel, pp 147–202

    Google Scholar 

  • Markowitsch HJ, Pritzel M (1977) A stereotaxic atlas of the prefrontal cortex of the cat. Acta Neurobiol Exp 37: 63–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Merrill EG, Ainsworth A (1972) Glass-coated platinum plated tungsten microelectrodes. Med Biol Eng 10: 662–672

    Google Scholar 

  • Merrill EG, Wall PD, Yaksh TL (1978) Properties of two unmyelinated fibre tracts of the central nervous system: lateral Lissauer tract and parallel fibres of the cerebellum. J Physiol (Lond) 284: 127–145

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson BW, Maunz RA, Pitts NG, Mackel RG (1975) Patterns of projection and branching of reticulospinal neurons. Exp Brain Res 23: 333–351

    Google Scholar 

  • Powell EW, Akagi K, Hatton JB (1974) Subcortical projections of the cingulate gyrus in cat. J Hirnforsch 15: 269–278

    Google Scholar 

  • Ranck JB (1975) Which elements are excited in electrical stimulation of mammalian central nervous system: a review. Brain Res 98: 417–440

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Reep R (1984) Relationship between prefrontal and limbic cortex: a comparative anatomical review. Brain Behav Evol 25: 5–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Rinvick E (1968) The corticothalamic projection from the gyrus proreus and the medial wall of the rostral hemisphere in the cat. An experimental study with silver impregnation methods. Exp Brain Res 5: 129–152

    Google Scholar 

  • Room P, Russchen FT, Groenewegen HJ, Lohman AHM (1985) Efferent connections of the prelimbic (area 32) and the infralimbic (area 25) cortices: an anterograde tracing study in the cat. J Comp Neurol 242: 40–55

    Google Scholar 

  • Rose JE, Woolsey CN (1948) Structure and relations of limbic cortex and anterior thalamic nuclei in rabbit and cat. J Comp Neurol 89: 279–347

    Google Scholar 

  • Schlag J (1978) Electrophysiological mapping techniques. In: Robertson R (ed) Neuroanatomical research techniques. Academic Press, New York, pp 385–404

    Google Scholar 

  • Shinoda Y, Arnold AP, Asanuma H (1976) Spinal branching of corticospinal axons in the cat. Exp Brain Res 26: 215–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel A, Edinger H, Lowenthal, H (1974) Effects of electrical stimulation of the medial aspect of the prefrontal cortex upon attack behaviour in cats. Brain Res 66: 467–479

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegel A, Troiano R, Royce A (1973) Differential projections of the anterior and posterior cingulate gyrus to the thalamus in the cat. Exp Neurol 38: 192–201

    Google Scholar 

  • Sirett NE, Hyland BI, Hubbard JI, Lapwood KR, Elgar HJ (1986) Luteinizing hormone release in the anesthetised cat following electrical stimulation of limbic structures. Neuroendocrinology 42: 128–136

    Google Scholar 

  • Snider RS, Niemer WT (1961) A stereotaxic atlas of the cat brain. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London

    Google Scholar 

  • Thierry AM, Chevalier G, Ferron A, Glowinski J (1983) Diencephalic and mesencephalic efferents of the medial prefrontal cortex in the rat: electrophysiological evidence for the existence of branched axons. Exp Brain Res 50: 275–282

    Google Scholar 

  • Timms RJ (1981) A study of the amygdaloid defence reaction showing the value of althesin anaesthesia in studies of the functions of the fore-brain in cats. Pflügers Arch 391: 49–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Törk I, Halliday G, Scheibner T, Turner S (1984) The organisation and connections of the mesencephalic ventromedial tegmentum (VMT) in the cat. In: Bandler R (ed) Modulation of sensorimotor activity during alteration in behavioural states. Alan R Liss Inc, New York, pp 39–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Waxman SG (1978) Variations in axonal morphology and their functional significance. In: Waxman SG (ed) Physiology and pathobiology of axons. Raven Press, New York, pp 169–190

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiegand SJ (1984) The afferent connections of the periventricular medial preoptic nucleus (MPN): a sexually dimorphic substrate for ovulation and phasic gonadotrophin release in the rat. Soc Neurosci Abstr 10: 610

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physiology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Otago Medical School, P. O. Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand

    B. I. Hyland, N. E. Sirett & J. I. Hubbard

Authors
  1. B. I. Hyland
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. N. E. Sirett
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. J. I. Hubbard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hyland, B.I., Sirett, N.E. & Hubbard, J.I. Electrophysiological evidence for a projection from medial prefrontal and anterior limbic cortex toward the medial preoptic area in the cat. Exp Brain Res 63, 205–215 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235665

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235665

Key words

Search

Navigation