Summary
The cells of the pineal gland, the pineal stalk, and the lamina intercalaris contain 5-HT and are innervated by sympathetic nerve fibres. These peripheral nerve fibres continue rostrally from the lamina intercalaris and run into the central nervous tissue of stria medullaris and the habenular nuclei. Pharmacological treatment to increase the cellular 5-HT content revealed that the sympathetic fibres are in close relation to yellow fluorescent cells embedded in the brain tissue. These yellow fluorescent cells develop very late in the ontogenetic development (three weeks or more postnatally) and are preceded by ingrowth of sympathetic fibres into the brain tissue. The results support the hypothesis that the cells found in the habenular region are of pinealocyte rather than neuronal nature, but it is possible that they differ in certain aspects from the cells of the pineal gland proper.
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Wiklund, L. Development of serotonin-containing cells and the sympathetic innervation of the habenular region in the rat brain. Cell Tissue Res. 155, 231–243 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221357
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221357