BACKGROUND Major depression is a common disorder with great social and individual burdens. Transcranial sonography (TCS) is a useful and noninvasive measure for assessment of normal and impaired brain parenchyma. The brainstem raphe nuclei are in close association with dorsocaudal limbic system and plays an important role in depression. In this study we compared the echogenicity of the raphe nu...

The GATA-3 transcription factor shows a specific and restricted expression pattern in the developing and adult mouse brain. In the present study we investigated the role of GATA-3 in the caudal raphe system, which is known to operate as a modulator of motor activity. We demonstrate that virtually all neurons in the caudal raphe nuclei that express GATA-3 also produce serotonin. Absence of GATA-...

This is a study of the chemoanatomical organization of the projection from the raphe nuclei to the main olfactory bulb in the rat. A heavy projection from the dorsal and median raphe nuclei to the main olfactory bulb was shown by both retrograde and anterograde tracing techniques. Following injections of 1% wheat germ agglutinin-horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) into the main olfactory bulb, up ...

The serotonergic raphe nuclei of the midbrain are principal centers from which serotonin neurons project to innervate cortical and sub-cortical structures. The dorsal raphe nuclei receive light input from the circadian visual system and indirect input from the biological clock nuclei. Dysregulation of serotonin neurotransmission is implicated in neurobehavioral disorders, such as depression and...

The ascending serotonergic projections are derived mainly from mesencephalic raphe nuclei. Topographical projections from mesencephalic raphe nuclei to the striatum were examined in the rat by the retrograde transport technique of HRP (horseradish peroxidase). In 29 rats stereotaxically injection of HRP enzyme were performed in dorsal and ventral parts of striatum separately. The extent of the ...

The present studies in the rat employed a combined retrograde transport-immunocytochemical technique to determine the origin in the brainstem of enkephalin (Enk) projections to spinal sympathetic nuclei, including the intermediolateralis nucleus, pars principalis (ILp). We found that Enk projections to the ILp nucleus are found in such serotonergic-containing areas as the raphe obscurus; raphe ...

Head dipping (HD) is a behavioral pattern considered to have a risk assessment or an exploratory role and is used as a complementary parameter to evaluate anxiety in experimental animals. Since rats with electrolytic lesion in the area of the median raphe nucleus displayed high frequencies of HD in a previous study, the present investigation was undertaken to confirm this observation and to det...