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GABAergic Neuronal Circuitry in the Periaqueductal Gray Matter

  • Chapter
The Midbrain Periaqueductal Gray Matter

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((NSSA,volume 213))

Abstract

The midbrain periaqueductal gray matter (PAG) has been implicated in a wide range of possible functions including antinociception, reproductive behavior, and components of the defense reaction (Besson; Ogawa et al.; Bandler and Depaulis, this volume). Stimulation of the PAG, using electrodes or excitatory amino acids, has been very useful for characterizing the effects that can be elicited from the PAG, by essentially treating the PAG as a “black box,” bypassing intrinsic circuitry to ultimately activate efferent axons. Thus, our knowledge is limited concerning the neuronal circuitry internal to the PAG that regulates individually or collectively, its putative functions. This chapter describes results of anatomical, pharmacological, and electrophysiological studies suggesting that GABAergic neuronal elements play a prominent role in the intrinsic neuronal circuitry of the PAG. Based on this information, it seems likely that GABAergic neurons in the PAG are local circuit interneurons, and that GABAergic elements exert potent tonic inhibitory control over a variety of putative PAG functions including antinociception. To begin characterizing the anatomical basis for such GABAergic controls in the PAG, our work has combined the methods of immunocytochemistry with retrograde tracing at the electron microscopic level. These studies demonstrated that GABA-immunoreactive axon terminals synapse directly on neurons that give rise to the major projection from the PAG to the medullary nucleus raphe magnus (NRM).

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  1. Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, USA

    David B. Reichling

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  1. David B. Reichling
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  1. L.N.B.C, Centre de Neurochimie du CNRS, 5 rue Blaise Pascal, 67084, Strasbourg Cedex, France

    Antoine Depaulis

  2. Dept. of Anatomy, University of Sydney, 2006, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Richard Bandler

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Reichling, D.B. (1991). GABAergic Neuronal Circuitry in the Periaqueductal Gray Matter. In: Depaulis, A., Bandler, R. (eds) The Midbrain Periaqueductal Gray Matter. NATO ASI Series, vol 213. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-3302-3_18

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