School of Anatomical Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 7 York Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa.
Brain Struct Funct. 2018 Apr;223(3):1191-1216. doi: 10.1007/s00429-017-1555-3. Epub 2017 Nov 2.
Here we describe the nuclear organization of the African elephant amygdaloid complex using Nissl, myelin, and a range of immunohistochemical stains. The African elephant is thought to exhibit many affect-laden and social-empathic behaviours; however, to date the amygdaloid complex, which is the generator of emotional states of the brain is yet to be fully explored in the elephants. For the most part, the amygdaloid complex of the African elephant is similar to that observed in other mammals in terms of the presence of nuclei and their topological relationships; however, we did observe several specific differences in amygdaloid organization. The elephant amygdala has undergone rotation in both the coronal and sagittal planes, seemingly associated with the expansion of the temporal lobe. Numerous scalloped cell clusters, termed glomeruli, forming the intermediate nuclei of the basal, accessory basal and central nuclear groups, were occupied by structures immunopositive to doublecortin. The nuclei typically associated with the accessory olfactory system (posterior cortical nucleus and medial nuclear complex) were absent from the elephant amygdala. The anterior cortical nucleus is very large and appears to be comprised of two subdivisions. The lateral nuclear complex is expanded and has two novel subdivisions. The amygdalohippocampal area appears relatively enlarged. The numerous shared and derived characters make the elephant amygdaloid complex very unusual and unique amongst mammals, but the derived characters appear to relate to observed elephant affect-laden behaviours.
我们使用尼氏染色、髓鞘染色和一系列免疫组织化学染色来描述非洲象杏仁核复合体的核组织。人们认为非洲象表现出许多充满情感和社交同理心的行为；然而，到目前为止，大脑产生情绪状态的杏仁核复合体在大象中尚未得到充分探索。在很大程度上，非洲象的杏仁核复合体在核的存在及其拓扑关系方面与其他哺乳动物相似；然而，我们确实观察到杏仁核组织在几个特定方面存在差异。大象杏仁核在冠状面和矢状面都发生了旋转，似乎与颞叶的扩张有关。许多扇贝状细胞簇，称为肾小球，形成基底核、辅助基底核和中央核群的中间核，被双皮质蛋白免疫阳性的结构占据。与副嗅觉系统（皮质后核和内侧核复合体）相关的核通常不存在于象的杏仁核中。前皮质核非常大，似乎由两个亚区组成。外侧核复合体扩大并有两个新的亚区。杏仁核海马区似乎相对增大。许多共同和衍生的特征使大象的杏仁核复合体在哺乳动物中非常不寻常和独特，但衍生的特征似乎与观察到的大象充满情感的行为有关。
