Neurotensin-immunoreactive neurons in the ventral striatum of the adult rat: ventromedial caudate-putamen, nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle.

Sections through rat striatum pretreated with colchicine displayed large numbers of neurotensin (NT)-immunoreactive (IR) neurons which were most concentrated in the ventral striatum, i.e. in rostral ventromedial parts of the caudate-putamen and in the nucleus accumbens and olfactory tubercle. Such neurons were clustered coextensively in the ventromedial caudate-putamen and caudal nucleus accumbens with dense patches of NT-IR fiber and puncta staining. NT-IR neurons were sparsely distributed in other parts of the striatum, except in a thin lamina adjacent to the lateral ventricle and globus pallidus, and along the course of the temporal limb of the anterior commissure.