ISSN:
1432-1106
Keywords:
Pineal
;
Single unit recording
;
Habenula stimulation
;
Habenulo-pineal pathway
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Summary Extracellular potentials were recorded in the pineal gland of urethane-anesthetized rats. Two distinct populations of excitable pineal “cells” were found, the silent “cells” which were driven by habenula stimulation and the spontaneously active cells. In the former case 17 of the responses (median latency of 1.2 ms) showed a positive-negative potential, and 6 (about 1 ms latency) showed only positive potential of 1–2 ms duration. The remaining cells (114), which could not be driven by habenula stimulation, exhibited spontaneous activity with a firing frequency from less than 1 Hz to greater than 100 Hz with a median firing frequency of 10 Hz. These experiments clearly demonstrate a direct habenulo-pineal fiber pathway and furthermore show that there are neuronal elements in the pineal which are only activated by habenula stimulation.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00237549
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