The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is postulated to result from a failure of homeostatic responses to life-threatening challenges (e.g. asphyxia, hypercapnia) during sleep. The ventral medulla participates in sleep-related homeostatic responses, including chemoreception, arousal, airway reflex control, thermoregulation, respiratory drive, and blood pressure regulation, in part via serotoni...

The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) projects serotonergic axons throughout the brain and is involved in a variety of physiological functions. However, it also includes a large population of cells that contain other neurotransmitters. To clarify the physiological and pharmacological differences between the serotonergic and non-serotonergic neurons of the DRN, their postsynaptic responses to 5hydroxyt...

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine), often referred to as ‘ecstasy’, has been shown to selectively and persistently impair central serotonergic neurotransmission in laboratory animals. As of recent, evidence in human studies has suggested a link between recreational ecstasy use and a disruption of the brain’s serotonergic system. However, human neurocognitive and neuroimaging studies have ...

A science-based curriculum that encourages hands-on experiences, skill development, and promotes student engagement are critical components in both successful undergraduate psychology and neuroscience programs. This lab explored an inquiry-based research project focused on microscopy skills, critical thinking, and independent research design. This lesson used a novel research question (How many...

LEARNING OBJECTIVE Discuss the theory of modulation of receptor activity or the blockade of the reuptake of multiple neurotransmitter systems for the future treatment of MDD. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious and often crippling psychiatric illness with a high risk of relapse and treatment resistance. In this article, we discuss the role of the serotonergic system in MDD including ou...

Rabbit corneal epithelial cell cultures were established from Dispase-treated anterior corneas. In culture medium containing cholera toxin, insulin and epidermal growth factor, these cells proliferated in vitro in the absence of any contaminating cells. Following subculture, cells retained epithelial morphology and the ability to synthesize cAMP in response to beta-adrenergic stimulation, but l...

The development of serotonergic innervation to rat cerebral cortex was characterized by immunohistochemical localization of serotonin combined with autoradiographic imaging of serotonin-uptake sites. In neonatal rat, a transient, dense, serotonergic innervation appears in all primary sensory areas of cortex. In somatosensory cortex, dense patches of serotonergic innervation are aligned with spe...

After systemic administration of several serotonergic antagonists, female rats that had been ovariectomized, adrenalectomized, and estrogen-primed showed lordotic responding. Lordosis could also be elicited after direct placement of serotonergic receptor blockers into hypothalamic sites known to contain serotonergic terminals. None of the treatments activated the soliciting component of the est...

To evaluate species differences in the serotonergic innervation of the superior olivary complex, serotonergic fibers and varicosities were labeled with immunohistochemistry in mouse. Many immunoreactive fibers and varicosities were observed in two of the three principal nuclei, in addition to some periolivary nuclei. This pattern of staining differs greatly from that observed in other mammals i...

Introduction Dysfunction in the brain serotonergic (5-HT) system is thought to underlie human depression. Selective Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) are widely used antidepressant drugs whose therapeutic onset are delayed for several weeks whilst neuroadaptive changes take place in the brain, after which the previously disturbed serotonergic neurotransmission is restored. A suggested way ...