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A functional role for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in anterior cingulate cortex

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Abstract

Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) is present in high concentrations in the cerebral cortex, where it is the putative neurotransmitter of a major intracortical neuronal system1–3. Homogenates of cortical tissue contain high-affinity, specific binding sites for VIP4 as well as an adenylate cyclase system which is sensitive to this peptide5,6. As with many of the other peptidergic systems which have been identified in the central nervous system (CNS), it has proved extremely difficult to elucidate the nature and extent of the functional role of VIP in specific brain areas. Here, using the quantitative autoradiographic 14C-deoxyglucose technique in rats7 to provide insight into functional processes8, we describe the increases in glucose utilization which occur locally in anterior cingulate cortex following the unilateral injection of VIP (20 pmol) into this key brain area and, additionally, the focal alterations in glucose use in CNS regions having known neuronal connections with the injected region (for example, ipsilateral mediodorsal thalamus, ventral tegmental area, nucleus accumbens, caudate nucleus and contralateral cingulate cortex). These data provide evidence that VIP may modify the processing of afferent and efferent information within the anterior cingulate cortex in the conscious rat.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Wellcome Surgical Institute, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G61 1QH, UK

    James McCulloch & Paul A. T. Kelly

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  1. James McCulloch
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  2. Paul A. T. Kelly
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McCulloch, J., Kelly, P. A functional role for vasoactive intestinal polypeptide in anterior cingulate cortex. Nature 304, 438–440 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/304438a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/304438a0

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