Summary
A quantitative and immunoelectronmicroscopical analysis of serotonin nerve fibers in the primary visual cortex of the monkey (Macaca fuscata) was made using a sensitive immunoperoxidase method for serotonin. The overall numerical density of serotonin-containing varicosities in the primate striate cortex was approximately 770,000/mm3 and the highest concentration of immunore-active varicosities (ca. 1,400,000/mm3) was observed in the upper portion of layer IVc, the next highest concentration being in layer IVb (ca. 1,180,000/mm3). At the ultrastructural level, the electron dense immunoreactive products were observed in the small granules (10–65 nm in diameter). The varicosities were usually small (0.5–1.0 μm in diameter) and made contact with both stellate and pyramidal cells. Serotonin fibers were often in close apposition to the poorly myelinated axons in layers IVb, V, and VI, and they rarely formed distinct synaptic structures with unlabelled neuronal elements.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beaudet A, Descarries L (1976) Quantitative data on serotonin nerve terminals in adult rat neocortex. Brain Res 111:301–309
Braak H (1976) On the striate area of the human isocortex. A Golgi- and pigmentarchitectonic study. J Comp Neurol 166:341–364
Brodmann K (1905) Beiträge zur histologischen Lokalisation der Großhirnrinde. Dritte Mitteilung: Die Rindenfelder der niederen Affen. J Phychol Neurol 4:177–226
Brusco A, Peressini S, Saavedra JP (1983) Serotonin-like immunoreactivity and anti-5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) antibodies: Ultrastructural application in the central nervous system. J Histochem Cytochem 31:524–530
Descarries L, Beaudet A, Watkins KC (1975) Serotonin nerve terminals in adult rat neocortex. Brain Res 100:563–588
Garey BL (1971) A light and electron microscopic study of the visual cortex of the cat and monkey. Proc Roy Soc Lond B 179:21–40
Lidov HGW, Grzanna R, Molliver ME (1980) The serotonin innervation of the cerebral cortex in the rat — An immunohistochemical analysis. Neuroscience 5:207–227
Lorez HP, Richards AJ (1982) Supra-ependymal serotoninergic nerves in mammalian brain: Morphological, pharmacological and functional studies. Brain Res Bull 9:727–741
Lund JS (1973) Organization of neurons in the visual cortex, Area 17, of the monkey (Macaca mulatta). J Comp Neurol 147:455–496
Maxwell DJ, Leranth Cs, Verhofstad AAJ (1983) Fine structure of serotonin-containing axons in the marginal zone of the rat spinal cord. Brain Res 266:253–259
Molliver ME, Grazanna R, Lidow HGW, Morrison JH, Olschowka JA (1982) Monoamine systems in the cerebral cortex. Cytochemical Methods in Neuroanatomy (Chan-Palay V, Palay SL eds) Alan R Liss, New York, pp 255–277
Morrison JH, Foote SL, Molliver ME, Bloom FE, Lidov HGW (1982) Noradrenergic and serotonergic fibers innervate complementary layers in monkey primary visual cortex: An immunohistochemical study. Proc Natl Acad Sci 79:2401–2405
Pasik P, Pasik T, Saavedra JP (1982) Immunocytochemical localization of serotonin at the ultrastructural level. J Histochem Cytochem 30:760–764
Pelletier G, Steinbusch HWM, Verhofstad AAJ (1981) Immunoreactive substance P and serotonin present in the same dense-core vesicles. Nature 293:71–72
Pickel VM, Joh TH, Reis DJ (1976) Monoamine-synthesizing enzymes in central dopaminergic, noradrenergic and serotonergic neurons. Immunocytochemical localization by light and electron microscopy. J Histochem Cytochem 24:792–806
Pickel VM, Joh TH, Reis DJ (1977) A serotonergic innervation of noradrenergic neurons in nucleus locus coeruleus: Demonstration by immunocytochemical localization of the transmitter specific enzymes tyrosine and tryptophan hydroxylase. Brain Res 131:197–214
Piekut DT, Casey SM (1983) Penetration of immunoreagents in Vibratome-sectioned brain: A light and electron microscope study. J Histochem Cytochem 31:669–674
Ruda MA, Coffield J, Steinbusch HWM (1982) Immunocytochemical analysis of serotonergic axons in laminae I and II of the lumbar spinal cord of the cat. J Neuroscience 2:1660–1671
Sano Y, Takeuchi Y, Kimura H, Goto M, Kawata M, Kojima M, Matsuura T, Ueda S, Yamada Y (1982) Immunohistochemical studies on the processes of serotonin neurons and their ramification in the central nervous system — With regard to the possibility of the existence of Golgi's rete nervosa diffusa. Arch Histol Jpn 45:305–316
Takeuchi Y, Sano Y (1983a) Immunohistochemical demonstration of serotonin nerve fibers in the neocortex of the monkey (Macaca fuscata). Anat Embryol 166:155–168
Takeuchi Y, Sano Y (1983b) Immunohistochemical detection of serotonin in the central nervous system. Structure and function of peptidergic and aminergic neurons (Sano Y, Zimmerman EA, Ibata Y eds) Jpn Sci Soc Press and VNU Sci Press Utrecht, pp 335–340
Takeuchi Y, Kimura H, Sano Y (1982) Immunohistochemical demonstration of the distribution of serotonin neurons in the brainstem of the rat and cat. Cell Tissue Res 224:247–267
Takeuchi Y, Kimura H, Matsuura T, Yonezawa T, Sano Y (1983a) Distribution of serotonergic neurons in the central nervous system: A peroxidase-antiperoxidase study with anti-serotonin antibodies. J Historchem Cytochem 31:181–185
Takeuchi Y, Kojima M, Matsuura T, Sano Y (1983b) Serotonergic innervation on the motoneurons in the mammalian brainstem Light and electron microscopic immunohistochemistry. Anat Embryol 167:321–333
Tigges M, Bos J, Tigges J, Bridges E (1977) Ultrastructural characteristics of layer IV neuropil in area 17 of monkeys. Cell Tissue Res 182:39–59
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Supported by grant (No. 57214028) from the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture, Japan
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Takeuchi, Y., Sano, Y. Serotonin nerve fibers in the primary visual cortex of the monkey. Anat Embryol 169, 1–8 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300581
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00300581