Perceptual decisions require both analysis of sensory information and selective routing of relevant information to decision networks. This study explores the contribution of a midbrain network to visual perception in chickens. Analysis of visual orientation information in birds takes place in the forebrain sensory area called the Wulst, as it does in the primary visual cortex (V1) of mammals. I...

The anterior cinculate cortex (ACC) is known to be implicated in pain-fear and reward expectations. Animals were given electrolytic lesions of the ACC and then trained in the consummatory successive negative contrast (cSNC) situation. In cSNC, animals exposed to an incentive downshift from 32% to 4% sucrose exhibit less consummatory behavior than animals always exposed to 4% sucrose. The ACC le...

Small, circumscribed electrolytic lesions were made in the upper cervical corticospinal tract in adult rats. In the centre of the lesion, the axons and all other tissue elements were totally destroyed. Surrounding this region of destruction is an area of tissue which is only partially damaged. In this area TUNEL positive staining of contiguous rows of tract glial cells indicates massive oligode...

Lesion-induced degeneration was combined with the retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) to examine the thalamocortical and other synaptical relationships of corticothalamic projection cells in mouse SmI cortex. Injections containing 40% HRP were placed in the ventrobasal thalamus and the next day, electrolytic lesions were made of the injection site. About four days later, the an...

In a previous study involving the inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation in brain mitochondria by electrical currents, it was observed that the effect varied with the kind of conductive substance used in the construction of the electrode (Abood, 1954). Electrodes constructed of either gold or an alloy of silver and gold were most effective, while silver and platinum electrodes were least effec...

Small electrolytic lesions placed in the hilus of the dentate gyrus have been shown to induce behavioral seizures, an elevation in the concentration of the opioid peptide enkephalin, and an increase in the transcription of the gene coding for the peptide precursor of enkephalin. Since polyamines and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), the rate-limiting enzyme in their synthesis, have been shown to p...

Introduction: The role of midbrain reticular formation, which includes the nucleus cuneiformis (NCF), as a crucial antinociceptive region in descending pain modulation has long been investigated. In this study, we tried to highlight the role of NCF in morphine-induced antinociception in formalin-induced pain model in rats. Methods: A total of 201 male Wistar rats weighing 260-310 g were used in...