Recent evidence suggests that Ca(2+)-permeable AMPA receptors display rapid, short-lasting current facilitation. In this study, we investigated the properties of AMPA receptor-mediated synaptic currents in medial septal neurons of the rat in an in vitro slice preparation. Immunocytochemistry with a selective antibody to the GluR2 subunit revealed that both choline acetyltransferase-containing a...

The medial nucleus of the amygdala is important for the neural control of reproductive behavior in the adult male Syrian hamster. Two types of signals are essential for this behavior, chemosensory stimuli and gonadal steroids; these signals appear to be received in different parts of the medial nucleus. The anterior region receives input from olfactory and vomeronasal systems, both of which are...

Amphetamine-like stimulants exert well-known arousal-enhancing actions. Surprisingly, little is known concerning the neuroanatomical substrates through which these drugs enhance arousal. Previous work implicates a number of basal forebrain structures in the regulation of behavioral state. The current studies examined the effects of amphetamine infusions made directly within basal forebrain site...

Groups of pregnant rats were injected with two successive daily doses of 3H-thymidine from gestational days 12 and 13 (E12 + 13) until the day before parturition (E21 + 22). In adult progeny of the injected rats the proportion of neurons generated on specific embryonic days was determined quantitatively in the vestibular and auditory nuclei of the upper medulla. In the vestibular nuclei, neuron...

Human amniotic fluid (AF) contains eight fatty acids (FATs), and both produce anxiolytic-like effects in adult rats and appetitive responses in human newborns. The medial amygdala and lateral septal nucleus function are related to social behavior, but the action of AF or its FATs in this circuit is known. We obtained 267 single-unit extracellular recordings in Wistar rats treated with vehicle (...

The medial nucleus of the amygdala, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and medial preoptic area appear to mediate steroidal regulation of mating behavior in male rodents. The mechanism of action has not been determined. One way testosterone could enhance neuronal function is by increasing neurotransmitter levels, thus altering neuronal transmission. To assess this hypothesis, we examined the ...

The fine structure and types of contact made by GABAergic elements in the septal nuclei were studied at the electronmicroscopic level by means of peroxidase immunocytochemistry, using anti-GABA antibodies. Observations were made on normal and colchicine-injected rats. GABA-immunoreactivity was distributed within somata, dendrites, axonal varicosities and terminals, and myelinated axons. The per...

Reversible inactivation of the medial septal area results in a spatial memory impairment and selective disruption of hilar/CA3, but not CA1, location-specific discharge. The present study examined the possibility that such septal deafferentation produces effects on hippocampal function by altering physiological properties of the primary input and output structures for hippocampus, the entorhina...