To understand the morphological substrate of the nicotine effect on nigral FGF-2 expression, a stereological analysis of FGF-2 immunoreactive neuronal and glial profiles has been performed in the substantia nigra of the rat after acute intermittent nicotine treatment. The major finding of this paper is the demonstration that this type of nicotine treatment produces a significant reduction in th...

We have previously demonstrated that mitogen-activated protein kinase phosphatase 1, Mkp1, is expressed in the developing and rat adult substantia nigra and striatum, where it promotes the growth of nigral dopaminergic neurons. Mkp1 may therefore have therapeutic potential for Parkinson's disease. In the present study, we have assessed the expression of Mkp1 and TH in the substantia nigra and s...

Introduction Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative movement disorder characterized by reduction and slowness of movement (akinesia and bradykinesia), muscle rigidity, and tremor. The core pathology of the disease is the degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta that project to the striatum and other basal ganglia nuclei. The striatum is...

Experiments that demonstrated a role for the substantia nigra in eye movements have played an important role in our understanding of the function of the basal ganglia in behavior more broadly. In this review we explore more recent experiments that extend the role of the substantia nigra pars reticulata from a simple gate for eye movements to include a role in cognitive processes for eye movemen...

This study explores the effect of continuous exposure to bright light on neuromelanin formation and dopamine neuron survival in the substantia nigra. Twenty-one days after birth, Sprague-Dawley albino rats were divided into groups and raised under different conditions of light exposure. At the end of the irradiation period, rats were sacrificed and assayed for neuromelanin formation and number ...

(+)-Amphetamine sulphate infused directly into the substantia nigra, pars compacta, at low rates and in low volumes and concentrations, produces a marked and prolonged inhibition of neuronal activity. This effect was significantly reduced or abolished following (+/-)-alphamethyl-p-tyrosine pretreatment or following electrolytic lesions in the diencephalon anterior to the substantia nigra. These...

The effect of repeated administration of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) on the expression of tyrosinc hydroxylase and preprocholecystokinin (CCK) messenger RNAs in substantia nigra was examined by in situ hybridisation histochemistry. Sections hybridised with 35S-labelled oligonucleotides were subjected to computerised image analysis to determine the densiw of silver grains above posi...

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system. The motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease result from the death of dopamine-generating cells in the substantia nigra, a region of the midbrain; the cause of this cell death is unknown. Homocysteine (Hcy) is a non-protein amino acid. It is a homologue of the amino acid cysteine. The elevated levels of homocysteine in p...

Reduced and oxidized glutathione concentrations in post-mortem brain tissue from the substantia nigra of control subjects and patients with neuropathologically confirmed Parkinson's disease were measured by a coulometric method using high-pressure liquid chromatography and electrochemical detection. Reduced glutathione concentrations were decreased in the substantia nigra of parkinsonian patien...

Cortical epileptic focus was produced by an intracortical injection of FeCl3 in rat cerebral cortex using standard techniques. How after its onset in the cortical focus, the epileptiform activity evolved with time in the thalamus and substantia nigra has been determined. To study the propagation of the epileptiform activity, the local EEG and multiple unit action potentials were recorded from t...