Electron microscopic analysis of the synaptic organization of the globus pallidus in the cat.

The synaptic organization of the feline globus pallidus (GP) was studied electron microscopically. The axon terminals were classified into five types on the basis of the size and shape of synaptic vesicles and the type of postsynaptic differentiations. Type I and II axon terminals were characterized by large, pleomorphic vesicles and by a symmetric and an asymmetric synaptic contact, respectively. Type III and IV axon terminals were characterized by small, pleomorphic vesicles and by a symmetric and an asymmetric synaptic contact, respectively. Type V axon terminals were characterized by elongated and large round vesicles and by a symmetric synaptic contact. The origins of these terminals were determined by a combined degeneration and HRP tracing technique. Following injections of HRP into the caudate nucleus or electrolytic lesions in this nucleus, type I terminals were anterogradely labeled with HRP or degenerated, respectively. Although type III, IV, and V terminals were labeled with HRP after HRP injections into the subthalamic nuclear region, only type IV and V terminals degenerated after lesions in that area. Type II terminals did not show any alterations following such treatment. These results suggest that type I terminals originate from the caudate nucleus, that type IV and V terminals come from the subthalamic nucleus or caudal to it, and that type III terminals are the terminals of intrinsic axon collaterals of GP neurons which send axons to the subthalamic nucleus. Occasionally convergence of different kinds of axon terminals on the same GP neuron was also observed. These terminals originated from the caudate nucleus and the subthalamic nucleus or caudal to it.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)