Hoang Bao N T, Wright David K, Zamani Akram, Roberts Angela C, Rosa Marcello G P, Reser David H
Department of Neuroscience, The School of Translational Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia.
Monash Rural Health Churchill, Monash University, Building 3W, Level 2 Northways Road, Churchill, VIC, 3842, Australia.
Brain Struct Funct. 2025 Nov 10;230(9):176. doi: 10.1007/s00429-025-03026-z.
Recent rodent studies suggest that the claustrum complex, an evolutionarily conserved structure with widespread cortical connectivity, plays a role in modulation of anxiety-like behaviour via projections to the basolateral amygdala. However, this circuitry remains poorly defined in primates. Here, we investigated structural connectivity between the claustrum complex, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex in the adult common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) using diffusion-weighted tractography and neuroanatomical tracing. Tracer injections were performed under anaesthesia via stereotaxic surgery. One marmoset received a biotinylated dextran amine injection into the basolateral amygdala, while four others received fluorescent retrograde tracers targeting the frontopolar cortex, orbitofrontal cortex, medial prefrontal cortex, and somatosensory cortex. Brains were processed for histology and tracer visualization. Diffusion weighted imaging and MRI tractography was performed on publicly available data from 24 marmosets from the Marmoset Brain Mapping Project (MBMv4; Tian et al. 2022; www.marmosetbrainmapping.org). The dorsal endopiriform nucleus was the region of the claustrum complex with the highest structural connectivity with both the amygdala and prefrontal cortex, showing particularly strong connectivity with the lateral amygdala and posterior orbitofrontal cortex, and more moderate connectivity with the medial prefrontal cortex. Our findings demonstrate a distinct claustro-amygdalo-prefrontal subcircuit in the marmoset, providing structural foundation for future studies examining the functional relevance of this circuitry in the primate brain.
最近的啮齿动物研究表明，屏状核复合体是一种具有广泛皮质连接的进化保守结构，通过向基底外侧杏仁核的投射在调节焦虑样行为中发挥作用。然而，在灵长类动物中，这条神经回路仍不清楚。在这里，我们使用扩散加权纤维束成像和神经解剖示踪技术，研究了成年普通狨猴（Callithrix jacchus）的屏状核复合体、杏仁核和前额叶皮质之间的结构连接。在麻醉下通过立体定向手术进行示踪剂注射。一只狨猴在基底外侧杏仁核注射了生物素化葡聚糖胺，而另外四只则接受了针对额极皮质、眶额皮质、内侧前额叶皮质和体感皮质的荧光逆行示踪剂。对大脑进行组织学处理和示踪剂可视化。对来自狨猴脑图谱项目（MBMv4；Tian等人，2022年；www.marmosetbrainmapping.org）的24只狨猴的公开数据进行了扩散加权成像和MRI纤维束成像。背侧内梨状核是屏状核复合体中与杏仁核和前额叶皮质结构连接性最高的区域，与外侧杏仁核和后眶额皮质的连接性特别强，与内侧前额叶皮质的连接性则较为适中。我们的研究结果表明狨猴中存在一个独特的屏状核 - 杏仁核 - 前额叶亚回路，为未来研究该神经回路在灵长类大脑中的功能相关性提供了结构基础。
