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Volume 4 No. 2, April 2009 |
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Neural Input into the Cingulate Cortex in the Golden Hamster Hanie Abdel-Hamid Youssef(1) & Takashi Yamadori(2)
Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University,
Ismailia, Egypt (Formerly, research fellow at Kobe University School
of Medicine, Japan)(1). First Department of Anatomy, Kobe
University School of Medicine, Kobe, Japan(2).
Aim: The cingulate cortex is involved in various autonomic
functions as well as rational cognitive functions. The aim of this
study was to investigate the neural input into cingulate cortex in
the golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus). Methods: Stereotaxic
injections of Fluoro-Gold (FG; a retrograde fluorescent tracer) were
made into distinctive regions of the cingulate cortex. The
retrograde cell body labeling pattern within the brain was
identified and analyzed. Results: Retrogradely labeled neurons were
detected in the following structures: the hippocampal formation, the
anteroventral, anteromedial, lateroposterior, ventroposterior, and
dorsomedial thalamic nuclei, the prefrontal cortex, the nuclei of
diagonal band of Broca, the accessory olfactory bulbs, the anterior
olfactory nuclei, the frontoparietal motor cortex, the indusium
griseum, the dorsal endopiriform nucleus, the pretectum, the
caudate-putamen, the ipsilateral dorsal part of the lateral septal
nucleus, the lateral part of medial mammillary nucleus, the
anterodorsal thalamic nucleus, the temporal cortex, the entorhinal
cortex, and areas 17 and 18. Interestingly, interconnections were
noticed among the various regions of the cingulate cortex.
Conclusion: The cingulate cortex has versatile afferent inputs from
many parts of the brain. This may confirm its role in many
physiological processes including the cognitive and emotional
functions.
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