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X-ray microanalysis of monoaminergic terminals in the nucleus tegmentalis dorsalis of the chicken

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Summary

X-ray microanalysis after aldehyde-chromatedichromate treatment served to confirm the presence of monoaminergic terminals in the nucleus tegmentalis dorsalis (NTD) of the chicken. The monoaminergic terminals were represented as neuronal elements with electron-dense vesicles (EDVs) of several different shapes as seen in Eponembedded semi-thin sections. Conventional electron microscopic observations of the adjacent ultra-thin sections showed the EDVs to be comprised of spherical medium-sized (about 80 nm in diameter), large dense-cored (about 120 nm) and elongated granular vesicles (100–220 nm) in the same nerve varicosities. It is probable that the NTD, being a center of catecholaminergic efferent projections, may also receive direct monoaminergic inputs from an unknown area of the brain and/or from recurrent collaterals of the same catecholamine-containing neurons in the NTD.

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This work was partly supported by a scientific research grant (NO. 57560264) and (NO. 58560263) from the Ministry of Education of Japan to T. Watanabe

The authors wish to express their sincere thanks to Dr. Kanjun Hirunagi for his technical advice during the course of this investigation

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Chikazawa, H., Fujioka, T. & Watanabe, T. X-ray microanalysis of monoaminergic terminals in the nucleus tegmentalis dorsalis of the chicken. Anat Embryol 170, 87–91 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00319462

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