Summary
Serotonin-immunoreactivity in the monkey lateral geniculate nucleus appears as a plexus of fine, beaded fibers decreasing in density from magnocellular to parvocellular laminae. Ultrastructurally, these fibers show strictures and dilations, and are filled with dense round particles as well as granular material attached to outer mitochondrial membranes and microtubules. Most of the profiles followed in serial sections lack morphologically defined synapses. The few synapses observed are asymmetric, some with subjunctional dense bodies. This appearance suggests a possible excitatory effect mainly on interneurons which in turn would inhibit principal cells. Serotonin released non-synaptically may block the delivery of transmitters from retinal terminals and/or the receptors for such transmitters, thereby exerting a modulatory depressing action on principal cells.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beaudet A, Descarries L (1978) The monoamine innervation of rat cerebral cortex: synaptic and nonsynaptic axon terminals. Neuroscience 3: 851–860
Bobillier P, Petitjean F, Salvert D, Ligier M, Seguin S (1975) Differential projections of the nucleus raphé dorsalis and nucleus raphé centralis as revealed by autoradiography. Brain Res 85: 205–210
Chan-Palay V (1977) Indolamine neurons and their processes in the normal rat brain and in chronic diet-induced thiamine deficiency demonstrated by uptake of 3H-serotonin. J Comp Neurol 176: 467–494
Cropper EC, Eisenman JS, Azmitia EC (1984) An immunocytochemical study of the serotonergic innervation of the thalamus of the rat. J Comp Neurol 224: 38–50
Curtis DR, Davis R (1962) Pharmacological studies upon neurones of the lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat. Br J Pharmacol 18: 217–246
Evarts EV, Landau W, Freygang W Jr, Marshall WH (1955) Some effects of lysergic acid diethylamide and bufotenine on electrical activity in the cat's visual system. Am J Physiol 181: 594–598
Fuxe K (1965) Evidence of the existence of monoamine neurons in the central nervous system. IV. Distribution of monoamine terminals in the central nervous system. Acta Physiol Scand (Suppl) 247: 37–85
Hámori J, Pasik T, Pasik P., Szentágothai J (1974) Triadic synaptic arrangements and their possible significance in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the monkey. Brain Res 80: 379–393
Hendrickson AE, Ogren MF, Vaughn JE, Barber RP, Wu JY (1983) Light and electron microscopic immunocytochemical localization of glutamic acid decarboxylase in monkey geniculate complex: evidence for GABAergic neurons and synapses. J Neurosci 3: 1245–1262
Mackay-Sim A, Sefton AJ, Martin PR (1983) Subcortical projections to lateral geniculate and thalamic reticular nuclei in the hooded rat. J Comp Neurol 213: 24–35
Montero VM, Zempel J (1986) The proportion and size of GABAimmunoreactive neurons in the magnocellular and parvocellular layers of the lateral geniculate nucleus of the rhesus monkey. Exp Brain Res 62: 215–223
Palkovits M, Brownstein J, Saavedra JM (1974) Serotonin content of the brain stem nuclei in the rat. Brain Res 80: 237–249
Pasik P, Pasik T, Hámori J, Holstein G (1985) GABAimmunoreactivity in monkey lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) at light and electron microscopic levels. Soc Neurosci Abstr 11: 317
Pasik P, Pasik T, Pecci Saavedra J (1982) Immunocytochemical localization of serotonin at the ultrastructural level. J Histochem Cytochem 30: 760–764
Pasik T, Pasik P (1982) Serotoninergic afferents in monkey neostriatum. Acta Biol Acad Sci Hung 33: 277–288
Pazos A, Cortes R, Palacios JM (1985) Quantitative autoradiographie mapping of serotonin receptors in the rat brain. II. Serotonin-2 receptors. Brain Res 346: 231–249
Pazos A, Palacios JM (1985) Quantitative autoradiographic mapping of serotonin receptors in the rat brain. I. Serotonin-1 receptors. Brain Res 346: 205–230
Pecci Saavedra J, Pasik T, Pasik P (1983) Immunocytochemistry of serotoninergic neurons in the central nervous system of monkeys. In: Caputto R, Ajmone-Marsan C (eds) Neural transmission, learning and memory, Vol. 10. Raven Press, New York (IBRO Monographs Series), pp 81–96
Pecci Saavedra J, Perez Lloret I (1979) Degeneration of interneurons in the lateral geniculate nucleus after 5,6-dihydroxytryptamine treatment. Int J Neurosci 10: 15–19
Rinaldi P, Sutko M, Mahnke JH, Verzeano M (1975) Serotonin in the lateral geniculate. Physiol Behav 14: 95–102
Rogawski MA, Aghajanian GK (1980) Norepinephrine and serotonin: opposite effects on the activity of lateral geniculate nucleus evoked by optic pathway stimulation. Exp Neurol 69: 678–694
Satinsky D (1967) Pharmacological responsiveness of lateral geniculate nucleus neurons. Int J Neuropharmacol 6: 387–397
Steinbusch HW (1981) Distribution of serotonin-immunoreactivity in the central nervous system of the rat — cell bodies and terminals. Neuroscience 6: 557–618
Sternberger LA (1979) Immunocytochemistry. John Wiley and Sons, New York
Tēbecis AK, Di Maria A (1972) A re-evaluation of the mode of action of 5-hydroxytryptamine on lateral geniculate neurones: comparison with catecholamines and LSD. Exp Brain Res 14: 488–493
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pasik, P., Pasik, T. & Holstein, G.R. Serotonin-immunoreactivity in the monkey lateral geniculate nucleus. Exp Brain Res 69, 662–666 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247318
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00247318