Mesulam M M, Hersh L B, Mash D C, Geula C
Bullard and Denny-Brown Laboratories, Harvard Neurology Department, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115.
J Comp Neurol. 1992 Apr 15;318(3):316-28. doi: 10.1002/cne.903180308.
The distribution of cholinergic fibers in the human brain was investigated with choline acetyltransferase immunocytochemistry in 35 cytoarchitectonic subdivisions of the cerebral cortex. All cortical areas and all cell layers contained cholinergic axons. These fibers displayed numerous varicosities and, on occasion, complex preterminal profiles arranged in the form of dense clusters. The density of cholinergic axons tended to be higher in the more superficial layers of the cerebral cortex. Several distinct patterns of lamination were identified. There were also major differences in the overall density of cholinergic axons from one cytoarchitectonic area to another. The cholinergic innervation of primary sensory, unimodal, and heteromodal association areas was lighter than that of paralimbic and limbic areas. Within unimodal association areas, the density of cholinergic axons and varicosities was significantly lower in the upstream (parasensory) sectors than in the downstream sectors. Within paralimbic regions, the non-isocortical sectors had a higher density of cholinergic innervation than the isocortical sectors. The highest density of cholinergic axons was encountered in core limbic structures such as the hippocampus and amygdala. These observations show that the cholinergic innervation of the human cerebral cortex displays regional variations that closely follow the organization of information processing systems.
利用胆碱乙酰转移酶免疫细胞化学方法，在大脑皮质的35个细胞构筑分区中研究了胆碱能纤维在人脑中的分布。所有皮质区域和所有细胞层均含有胆碱能轴突。这些纤维呈现出众多膨体，偶尔还有呈密集簇状排列的复杂终末前形态。胆碱能轴突的密度在大脑皮质较浅的层中往往更高。识别出了几种不同的分层模式。从一个细胞构筑区域到另一个区域，胆碱能轴突的总体密度也存在重大差异。初级感觉区、单峰和异峰联合区的胆碱能神经支配比边缘旁区和边缘区轻。在单峰联合区内，胆碱能轴突和膨体的密度在上游（副感觉）区明显低于下游区。在边缘旁区域内，非等皮质区的胆碱能神经支配密度高于等皮质区。在海马体和杏仁核等核心边缘结构中，胆碱能轴突的密度最高。这些观察结果表明，人类大脑皮质的胆碱能神经支配呈现出区域差异，这些差异与信息处理系统的组织密切相关。
