A reciprocal connection between the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus and the pretectal nuclear complex and the superior colliculus:: An in vitro characterization in the rat
A reciprocal connection between the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus and the pretectal nuclear complex and the superior colliculus:: An in vitro characterization in the rat
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DOI：
10.1017/s0952523808080048
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发表时间：
2008-01-01
影响因子：
1.9
通讯作者：
Schmidt, Matthias
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Born, Gesche;Schmidt, Matthias
腹外侧膝状体核（vLGN）、顶盖前核复合体（PNC）和上级丘（SC）都是接受视网膜输入的结构。这三个结构都是皮层下视觉系统的重要中继站。它们彼此紧密相连，并参与昼夜节律和/或视觉过程。然而，沿着这些途径传递的信息是未知的，因此，它们可能的功能也没有得到很好的理解。在这里，我们的特点vLGN，PNC和SC的电生理和解剖学在体外研究中使用急性大鼠脑切片之间的多个途径。使用顺向和逆向电刺激，我们首先表征了vLGN神经元，其接收顶盖前输入和那些投射到PNC的神经元。膜片钳记录后标记的细胞的形态重建确定这些神经元为膝状顶盖神经元和中型多极神经元。我们确定了两种途径中的抑制性连接，并且我们可以表明，vLGN神经元中PNC诱发的抑制性突触后电流（IPSC）仅由GABA（A）受体介导，而vLGN刺激在PNC神经元中诱发的IPSC要么由GABAA和GABA（c）受体介导，要么由具有混合GABAA和GABAc受体样药理学的GABA受体介导。最后，两种不同的荧光葡聚糖胺的逆行双标记实验表明，投射到同侧vLGN的顶盖前神经元也投射到同侧SC。
The ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN), the pretectal nuclear complex (PNC) and the superior colliculus (SC) are structures that all receive retinal input. All three structures are important relay stations of the subcortical visual system. They are strongly connected with each other and involved in circadian and/or visuomotor processes. However, the information transferred along these pathways is unknown and their possible functions are, therefore, not well understood. Here, we characterized multiple pathways between the vLGN, the PNC, and the SC electrophysiologically and anatomically in an in vitro study using acute rat brain slices. Using orthodromic and antidromic electrical stimulation, we first characterized vLGN neurons that receive pretectal input and those that project to the PNC. Morphological reconstructions of cells labeled after patch clamp recordings identified these neurons as geniculo-tectal neurons and as medium-sized multipolar neurons. We identified inhibitory connections in both pathways and we could show that inhibitory postsynaptic currents (IPSCs) evoked from the PNC in vLGN neurons are mediated only by GABA(A) receptors, while IPSCs evoked in PNC neurons by vLGN stimulation are either mediated by both, GABAA and GABA(c) receptors or by a GABA receptor with mixed GABAA and GABAc receptor-like pharmacology. Finally, retrograde double labeling experiments with two different fluorescent dextran amines indicated that pretectal neurons which project to the ipsilateral vLGN also project to the ipsilateral SC.