Schwaber J S, Kapp B S, Higgins G A, Rapp P R
J Neurosci. 1982 Oct;2(10):1424-38. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.02-10-01424.1982.
Although the amygdala complex has long been known to exert a profound influence on cardiovascular activity, the neuronal and connectional substrate mediating these influences remains unclear. This paper describes a direct amygdaloid projection to medullary sensory and motor structures involved in cardiovascular regulation, the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) and the dorsal motor nucleus (DVN), by the use of autoradiographic anterograde transport and retrograde horseradish peroxidase (HRP) techniques in rabbits. Since all of these structures are highly heterogeneous structurally and functionally, details of the specific areas of the neuronal origin and efferent distribution of the projection were examined in relation to these features and with reference to a cytoarchitecture description of the relevant forebrain regions in the rabbit. Amygdaloid projections to the NTS and DVN, as determined from HRP experiments, arise from an extensive population of neurons concentrated exclusively within the ipsilateral central nucleus and confined to and distributed throughout a large medial subdivision of this nucleus. Projection neurons, however, also distribute without apparent interruption beyond the amygdala dorsomedially into the sublenticular substantia innominata and the lateral part of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and thus delineate a single entity of possible anatomical unity across all three structures, extending rostrocaudally within the basal forebrain as a diagonal band. Descending central nucleus connections, based upon autoradiographic experiments, project heavily and extensively to both the NTS and the DVN. Within both nuclei, the projections have a highly specific distribution pattern, appearing to correspond largely to structural subdivisions, including the dorsomedial, medial, ventrolateral, ventral, and commissural NTS, and to cell group "a," a caudally located dorsomedial region, and peripheral regions of the DVN, some of which appear to be involved in cardiovascular regulation. The existence of such an extensive projection system connecting these specific regions is significant evidence in support to its potential for participation in the amygdaloid expression of cardiovascular influences and has important implications for the cellular analysis of the functional role of these influences.
虽然长期以来已知杏仁核复合体对心血管活动有深远影响，但介导这些影响的神经元和连接底物仍不清楚。本文利用放射自显影顺行运输和逆行辣根过氧化物酶（HRP）技术，在兔身上描述了杏仁核向参与心血管调节的延髓感觉和运动结构——孤束核（NTS）和迷走神经背核（DVN）的直接投射。由于所有这些结构在结构和功能上高度异质，因此结合这些特征并参考兔相关前脑区域的细胞构筑描述，研究了投射的神经元起源和传出分布的特定区域的细节。根据HRP实验确定，杏仁核向NTS和DVN的投射来自大量神经元，这些神经元仅集中在同侧中央核内，并局限于该核的一个大的内侧亚区并分布于其中。然而，投射神经元也无明显中断地分布到杏仁核背内侧，进入豆状核下无名质和终纹床核的外侧部分，从而勾勒出一个可能在解剖学上统一的单一实体，在基底前脑内沿头尾方向延伸为一条斜带。基于放射自显影实验，中央核的下行连接大量且广泛地投射到NTS和DVN。在这两个核内，投射具有高度特异性的分布模式，似乎在很大程度上与结构亚区相对应，包括背内侧、内侧、腹外侧、腹侧和连合NTS，以及细胞群“a”（一个位于尾侧的背内侧区域）和DVN的外周区域，其中一些似乎参与心血管调节。这样一个连接这些特定区域的广泛投射系统的存在，是支持其参与心血管影响的杏仁核表达潜力的重要证据，并且对这些影响的功能作用的细胞分析具有重要意义。
