Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is a secreted molecule that is thought to regulate tissue growth and patterning in vertebrate embryos. Although it has been reported that Gli transcription factors mediate Shh signaling to the nucleus, little is known about developmental target genes of Gli. In the previous genetic study, we showed that Shh is required for Fgf15 expression in the diencephalon and midbrain. ...

Atypical brainstem modulation of pain might contribute to changes in sensory processing typical of migraine. The study objective was to investigate whether migraine is associated with brainstem structural alterations that correlate with this altered pain processing. MRI T1-weighted images of 55 migraine patients and 58 healthy controls were used to: (1) create deformable mesh models of the brai...

Anteroposterior diameters of the suprapontine midbrain, the pons, and the collicular plate were measured in 50 patients with various parkinsonian syndromes (Parkinson disease [PD] [n = 20], progressive supranuclear palsy [PSP] [n = 16], and multiple-system atrophy of striatonigral type [n = 14]) and 12 age-matched healthy control subjects by means of axial T2-weighted magnetic resonance images....

The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) protein family has previously been shown to be involved in the development of mesodiencephalic dopaminergic (mdDA) neurons in the murine midbrain. Specifically, Ngn2 and Mash1 are known to have a role in the specification of neural progenitors in the ventricular zone (VZ) of the midbrain towards an mdDA neuronal cell-fate. Furthermore, other members of the bHLH...

Dickkopf1 (Dkk1) is a Wnt/β-catenin inhibitor that participates in many processes during embryonic development. One of its roles during embryogenesis is to induce head formation, since Dkk1-null mice lack head structures anterior to midbrain. The Wnt/β-catenin pathway is also known to regulate different aspects of ventral midbrain (VM) dopaminergic (DA) neuron development and, in vitro, Dkk1-me...

BACKGROUND Focal gliomas involving the midbrain tectum and tegmentum have been identified as having a better prognosis than diffuse tumors affecting the brain stem. However, only limited information is available concerning treatment effectiveness and long term outcome for these patients. METHODS A retrospective, population-based cancer registry survey was performed to assess the clinical feat...

It has been hypothesized that a deficit in serotonin may be a crucial determinant in the pathophysiology of major depression. Serotonin-1A receptors are located on serotonin cell bodies in the midbrain dorsal raphe (DR) nucleus, and the activation of these receptors inhibits the firing of serotonin neurons and diminishes the release of this neurotransmitter in the prefrontal cortex. Repeated tr...

In the trout lower midbrain 35% of the auditory neurons are directionally selective (DS). Most of these neurons have a higher directional selectivity than the sensory hair cells. DS units and non-DS units occur in vertical clusters, with the former more dorsally. The direction of preference is topographically mapped. Apparently, auditory space mapping is a common feature in the midbrain of vert...

Using event-related fMRI, Bunzeck and Düzel show that midbrain regions putatively housing dopamine cell bodies activate more for novel pictures than for negative pictures, pictures requiring a motor response, or repeated pictures. These findings indicate that midbrain regions preferentially respond to novelty and suggest that novelty can serve as its own reward.

Although we know a great deal about how the brain processes information about aversive and appetitive stimuli, it is not clear how these two systems interact to guide behavior. In this issue of Neuron, Jhou and colleagues identify a region in the midbrain tegmentum that signals aversive events and inhibits midbrain dopamine neurons.