PURPOSE To investigate the effect of retrograde tracing or axotomy on melanopsin mRNA expression and immunodetection in albino and pigmented rat retinas. METHODS Groups were (1) intact-naïve retinas; (2) optic nerve crush (ONC) analyzed at 7 days (7d) or 2 months (2m); (3) Fluorogold (FG) tracing from the superior colliculi (SCi) analyzed at 7d or 2m; (4) tracing from the intact optic nerve (...

We describe here an experimental approach designed to aid in the identification of complex brain circuits within the rat corpus striatum. Our aim was to characterize in a single section (i) striatal thalamic afferents, (ii) striatopallidal projection neurons and (iii) striatal local circuit interneurons. To this end, we have combined anterograde tracing using biotinylated dextran amine and retr...

To understand how the nervous system processes information, a map of the connections among neurons would be of great benefit. Here we describe the use of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) for tracing neuronal connections in vivo. We made VSV vectors that used glycoprotein (G) genes from several other viruses. The G protein from lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus endowed VSV with the ability to s...

The use of neurotropic viruses as transsynaptic tracers was first described in the 1960s, but only recently have such viruses gained popularity as a method for labeling neural circuits. The development of retrograde monosynaptic tracing vectors has enabled visualization of the presynaptic sources onto defined sets of postsynaptic neurons. Here, we describe the first application of a novel viral...

Introduction:Choledochal cysts are uncommon and of unknown cause, with an incidence of 0.1% even among adults referred for endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancre atography (ERCP) investigation 2. There is a higher incidence in females 3, 4. The presentation is often vague and nonspecific, impending prompt diagnosis. However, the diagnosis is facilitated by modern imaging techniques. While some a...

ii ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS Effects of temporary inactivation of dorsal hippocampus on explicitly nonspatial, Several studies have reported that dorsal hippocampal damage attenuates the of recently acquired contextual fear conditioning. "Context" is often operationalized as the conditioning chamber in which CS-US pairings occurred. However, the hippocampus is known to participate in spatial learn...