Projections from the amygdala to the cortex: an EM study

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The objective of this project is to describe, at the electron microscopic level ,the connection between the amygdala and the visual neocortex of non-human primates. The amygdala is essential for emotional response, and it may be involved in a variety of illnesses, including epilepsy and autism. While it known that the amygdala and the cortex are heavily interconnected, little is known concerning the synaptic organization of these connections. The anterograde tracer, Phaseolus vulgarie- leucoagglutinin (PHA-L), will be stereotaxically injected into the amygdala of adult male rhesus monkeys. The transported tracer will under the electron microscope to characterize the projections from the amygdala to area TE in the inferior temporal gyrus and VI in the occipital cortex. The former cortical areas is involved in facial processing and is known to receive strong projections from the amygdala. In second phase of the study, tissue will be double-labeled with an antibody to parva