Background. Patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) have a high risk of cognitive problems. Objective. This study assesses whether abnormal echogenicity of the substantia nigra (SN) and raphe nuclei (RN) and the diameter of third ventricle are markers of cognitive impairment in patients with PD and other forms of parkinsonism. Methods. 126 outpatients with early signs of parkinsonism underwent t...

Post-mortem and neuroimaging studies suggest that the serotonergic system, which originates from the brainstem raphe nuclei, is disrupted in Parkinson's disease. This could contribute to the occurrence of non-motor symptoms and tremor, which are only partially explained by dopamine loss. However, the level of involvement of the serotonergic raphe nuclei in early Parkinson's disease is still deb...

The serotoninergic system and the 5-HT1A receptors have been involved in the brain response to acute stress. The aim of our study was evaluate the role of the 5-HT1A receptors in serotoninergic cells of rostral and caudal raphe nuclei under acute immobilization in rats. Double immunocytochemical staining of 5-hydroxy-tryptamine and c-Fos protein and stereology techniques were used to study the ...

BACKGROUND Serotonergic raphespinal neurons and their fibers have been mapped in large mammals, but the non-serotonergic ones have not been studied, especially in the mouse. The present study aimed to investigate the termination pattern of fibers arising from the hindbrain raphe and reticular nuclei which also have serotonergic neurons by injecting the anterograde tracer BDA into them. RESULT...

The norepinephrine transporter (NET) is a site of action for tricyclic antidepressant drugs and for drugs of abuse such as amphetamine and cocaine. In this study, the binding of [3H]nisoxetine to NETs in the noradrenergic cell group, the locus coeruleus, and the serotonergic cell groups, the dorsal raphe nuclei, was measured autoradiographically in postmortem human brain. [3H]nisoxetine binding...

Leptin is a secretory product of adipocytes that has been shown to affect food intake, metabolism, and reproduction. One site of leptin's action is the central nervous system, where the leptin receptor (Ob-R) messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) and protein are expressed in discrete areas. In both the rat and monkey, Ob-R mRNA has been localized in the Raphe nuclei of the brainstem. Neurons in the...

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 ...