Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, via Marzolo 3, 35131, Padova, Italy.
Cell Tissue Res. 2021 Jan;383(1):525-533. doi: 10.1007/s00441-020-03383-7. Epub 2021 Jan 6.
In the rodent brain, the central processing of ecologically relevant chemical stimuli involves many different areas located at various levels within the neuraxis: the main and accessory olfactory bulbs, some nuclei in the amygdala, the hypothalamus, and brainstem. These areas allow the integration of the chemosensory stimuli with other sensory information and the selection of the appropriate neurohormonal and behavioral response. This review is a brief introduction to the processing of intraspecific chemosensory stimuli beyond the secondary projection, focusing on the activity of the relevant amygdala and hypothalamic nuclei, namely the medial amygdala and ventromedial hypothalamus. These areas are involved in the appropriate interpretation of chemosensory information and drive the selection of the proper response, which may be behavioral or hormonal and may affect the neural activity of other areas in the telencephalon and brainstem.Recent data support the notion that the processing of intraspecific chemical signals is not unique to one chemosensory system and some molecules may activate both the main and the accessory olfactory system. Moreover, both these systems have mixed projections and cooperate for the correct identification of the stimuli and selection of relevant responses.
在啮齿动物的大脑中，对生态相关化学刺激的中央处理涉及位于神经轴内不同水平的许多不同区域：主要和辅助嗅觉球、杏仁核的一些核、下丘脑和脑干。这些区域允许将化学感觉刺激与其他感觉信息整合，并选择适当的神经激素和行为反应。这篇综述简要介绍了超越二级投射的种内化学感觉刺激的处理，重点介绍了相关杏仁核和下丘脑核的活动，即内侧杏仁核和腹内侧下丘脑。这些区域参与适当解释化学感觉信息，并推动适当反应的选择，该反应可能是行为或激素反应，并可能影响端脑和脑干中其他区域的神经活动。最近的数据支持这样一种观点，即种内化学信号的处理不是特定于一个化学感觉系统的，一些分子可能会激活主要和辅助嗅觉系统。此外，这两个系统都有混合的投射，并为正确识别刺激和选择相关反应而合作。
