O'Shea M, Colbert R, Williams L, Dunn S
Sussex Centre for Neuroscience, School of Biological Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
Neuroreport. 1998 Jan 26;9(2):333-6. doi: 10.1097/00001756-199801260-00028.
All insect brains contain mushroom-shaped neural bodies which are implicated in associative learning. Here we show that the mushroom bodies of the locust brain have a remarkable and hitherto undescribed neural organisation consisting of six tubular structures in which bundles of axons are enclosed by cylindrical walls of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expressing processes. A dynamic temporo-spatial simulation shows that the tubular organization allows NO to attain and maintain locally elevated concentrations within highly structured domains in the CNS. A diffusible gaseous signalling molecule such as NO can therefore selectively affect computational processes occurring in discrete parallel channels of information flow in the brain. The implications of this are discussed in relation to the role of NO in a compartmental model of the mushroom bodies and more generally in the context of the targetting of diffusible messenger molecules in the brain.
所有昆虫的大脑都包含蘑菇状神经体，这些神经体与联想学习有关。在这里，我们展示了蝗虫大脑的蘑菇体具有一种显著且迄今未被描述的神经组织，该组织由六个管状结构组成，其中轴突束被表达一氧化氮合酶（NOS）的突起的圆柱形壁所包围。一个动态时空模拟表明，这种管状组织使一氧化氮能够在中枢神经系统高度结构化的区域内达到并维持局部升高的浓度。因此，像一氧化氮这样的可扩散气态信号分子能够选择性地影响大脑中离散并行信息流通道中发生的计算过程。本文将结合一氧化氮在蘑菇体区室模型中的作用以及更广泛地在大脑中可扩散信使分子靶向作用的背景下讨论这一发现的意义。
