Biomaterial Database

Aminergic and cholinergic afferents to REM sleep induction regions of the pontine reticular formation in the rat. 1993

K Semba

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Microinjection of cholinergic agonists in a dorsolateral part of the mesopontine tegmentum has been shown to induce a rapid eye movement (REM) sleep-like state. Physiological evidence indicates that not only acetylcholine but also various amine transmitters, including those implicated in behavioral state regulation, affect neuronal activity in this region of the pontine reticular formation. In the present study, sources of select aminergic and cholinergic inputs to this REM sleep induction zone were identified and quantitatively analyzed by using fluorescence retrograde tracing combined with immunofluorescence in the rat. In addition to previously demonstrated cholinergic projections from the pedunculopontine and laterodorsal tegmental nuclei, the REM sleep induction zone received various aminergic inputs that originated in widely distributed regions of the brainstem and hypothalamus. Serotoninergic afferents represented a mean of 44% of all aminergic/cholinergic source neurons projecting to the REM sleep induction zone, which was comparable to the mean percentage of 39% represented by cholinergic afferent neurons. The serotoninergic afferents originated from the raphe nuclei at all brainstem levels, with heavier projections from the pontine than from the medullary raphe nuclei. Unexpectedly, an additional major serotoninergic input was provided by serotoninergic neurons in the nucleus prosupralemniscus (B9). Noradrenergic afferent neurons represented a mean of 14% of all aminergic/cholinergic source neurons, which was only about one-third of the mean percentage of either cholinergic or serotoninergic source neurons. These noradrenergic projection neurons were located not only in the locus ceruleus (8%) but also in the lateral tegmentum, including the A5 (4%) and A7 (2%) cell groups. Histaminergic neurons in the tuberomammillary hypothalamic nucleus represented a minor group of afferent neurons (3%), and a still smaller input came from adrenergic C1 neurons. The pattern of these transmitter-specific afferent connections appeared to be similar regardless of the longitudinal level within the REM sleep induction zone. The present results are consistent with previous behavioral and physiological evidence for a role of the pontine REM sleep induction zone in triggering REM sleep. The regulation of REM sleep induction would be best understood in terms of a state-dependent interplay of cholinergic, serotoninergic, and other inputs all acting convergently upon neurons in the REM sleep-inducing region of the pontine reticular formation.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007150	Immunohistochemistry	Histochemical localization of immunoreactive substances using labeled antibodies as reagents.	Immunocytochemistry,Immunogold Techniques,Immunogold-Silver Techniques,Immunohistocytochemistry,Immunolabeling Techniques,Immunogold Technics,Immunogold-Silver Technics,Immunolabeling Technics,Immunogold Silver Technics,Immunogold Silver Techniques,Immunogold Technic,Immunogold Technique,Immunogold-Silver Technic,Immunogold-Silver Technique,Immunolabeling Technic,Immunolabeling Technique,Technic, Immunogold,Technic, Immunogold-Silver,Technic, Immunolabeling,Technics, Immunogold,Technics, Immunogold-Silver,Technics, Immunolabeling,Technique, Immunogold,Technique, Immunogold-Silver,Technique, Immunolabeling,Techniques, Immunogold,Techniques, Immunogold-Silver,Techniques, Immunolabeling
D008297	Male		Males
D008845	Microinjections	The injection of very small amounts of fluid, often with the aid of a microscope and microsyringes.	Microinjection
D009475	Neurons, Afferent	Neurons which conduct NERVE IMPULSES to the CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM.	Afferent Neurons,Afferent Neuron,Neuron, Afferent
D010275	Parasympathetic Nervous System	The craniosacral division of the autonomic nervous system. The cell bodies of the parasympathetic preganglionic fibers are in brain stem nuclei and in the sacral spinal cord. They synapse in cranial autonomic ganglia or in terminal ganglia near target organs. The parasympathetic nervous system generally acts to conserve resources and restore homeostasis, often with effects reciprocal to the sympathetic nervous system.	Nervous System, Parasympathetic,Nervous Systems, Parasympathetic,Parasympathetic Nervous Systems,System, Parasympathetic Nervous,Systems, Parasympathetic Nervous
D011149	Pons	The front part of the hindbrain (RHOMBENCEPHALON) that lies between the MEDULLA and the midbrain (MESENCEPHALON) ventral to the cerebellum. It is composed of two parts, the dorsal and the ventral. The pons serves as a relay station for neural pathways between the CEREBELLUM to the CEREBRUM.	Pons Varolii,Ponte,Pons Varolius,Pontes,Varolii, Pons,Varolius, Pons
D012154	Reticular Formation	A region extending from the PONS & MEDULLA OBLONGATA through the MESENCEPHALON, characterized by a diversity of neurons of various sizes and shapes, arranged in different aggregations and enmeshed in a complicated fiber network.	Formation, Reticular,Formations, Reticular,Reticular Formations
D001931	Brain Mapping	Imaging techniques used to colocalize sites of brain functions or physiological activity with brain structures.	Brain Electrical Activity Mapping,Functional Cerebral Localization,Topographic Brain Mapping,Brain Mapping, Topographic,Functional Cerebral Localizations,Mapping, Brain,Mapping, Topographic Brain
D005455	Fluorescent Antibody Technique	Test for tissue antigen using either a direct method, by conjugation of antibody with fluorescent dye (FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY TECHNIQUE, DIRECT) or an indirect method, by formation of antigen-antibody complex which is then labeled with fluorescein-conjugated anti-immunoglobulin antibody (FLUORESCENT ANTIBODY TECHNIQUE, INDIRECT). The tissue is then examined by fluorescence microscopy.	Antinuclear Antibody Test, Fluorescent,Coon's Technique,Fluorescent Antinuclear Antibody Test,Fluorescent Protein Tracing,Immunofluorescence Technique,Coon's Technic,Fluorescent Antibody Technic,Immunofluorescence,Immunofluorescence Technic,Antibody Technic, Fluorescent,Antibody Technics, Fluorescent,Antibody Technique, Fluorescent,Antibody Techniques, Fluorescent,Coon Technic,Coon Technique,Coons Technic,Coons Technique,Fluorescent Antibody Technics,Fluorescent Antibody Techniques,Fluorescent Protein Tracings,Immunofluorescence Technics,Immunofluorescence Techniques,Protein Tracing, Fluorescent,Protein Tracings, Fluorescent,Technic, Coon's,Technic, Fluorescent Antibody,Technic, Immunofluorescence,Technics, Fluorescent Antibody,Technics, Immunofluorescence,Technique, Coon's,Technique, Fluorescent Antibody,Technique, Immunofluorescence,Techniques, Fluorescent Antibody,Techniques, Immunofluorescence,Tracing, Fluorescent Protein,Tracings, Fluorescent Protein
D005456	Fluorescent Dyes	Chemicals that emit light after excitation by light. The wave length of the emitted light is usually longer than that of the incident light. Fluorochromes are substances that cause fluorescence in other substances, i.e., dyes used to mark or label other compounds with fluorescent tags.	Flourescent Agent,Fluorescent Dye,Fluorescent Probe,Fluorescent Probes,Fluorochrome,Fluorochromes,Fluorogenic Substrates,Fluorescence Agents,Fluorescent Agents,Fluorogenic Substrate,Agents, Fluorescence,Agents, Fluorescent,Dyes, Fluorescent,Probes, Fluorescent,Substrates, Fluorogenic