Pritz Michael B
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112-5001, USA.
DENLABS, Draper, UT, USA.
Brain Struct Funct. 2025 Apr 16;230(4):50. doi: 10.1007/s00429-025-02913-9.
The epithalamus is present in all vertebrates where it is a central part of the dorsal diencephalic conduction system whose functions are critical for survival. The epithalamus consists of both nuclei and tracts. Studies on the development of the epithalamus in amniotes (reptiles, birds, and mammals) based on cytoarchitecture have commonly been part of a larger report on the embryogenesis of the diencephalon. Of these, observations on the epithalamus of reptiles are few with limited descriptions and figures. The present analysis fills this gap in knowledge by examining the development of the epithalamus in one group of reptiles, Alligator mississippiensis, using stains for cells and fibers. The time of origin and subsequent development of the nuclei and the tracts that course through the epithalamus were determined. These data provide a basis for future studies and for comparisons with other amniotes.
上丘脑存在于所有脊椎动物中，是背侧间脑传导系统的核心部分，其功能对生存至关重要。上丘脑由神经核和神经束组成。基于细胞结构对羊膜动物（爬行动物、鸟类和哺乳动物）上丘脑发育的研究通常是关于间脑胚胎发生的更大报告的一部分。其中，对爬行动物上丘脑的观察较少，描述和图片有限。本分析通过使用细胞和纤维染色法研究密西西比鳄这一爬行动物种群的上丘脑发育，填补了这一知识空白。确定了穿过上丘脑的神经核和神经束的起源时间及后续发育情况。这些数据为未来的研究以及与其他羊膜动物的比较提供了基础。
