Elsevier

Brain Research

Volume 55, Issue 1, 30 May 1973, Pages 89-105
Brain Research

Certain ventromedial hypothalamic afferents

https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(73)90490-3Get rights and content

Summary

  • (1)

    Some of the afferents of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus (HVM) have been studied in mature mouse and rat brains with the rapid Golgi method.

  • (2)

    Entirely surrounding the nucleus is a fiber capsule which encompasses a dense terminal field.

  • (3)

    The HVM capsule is composed of axons from the stria terminalis, the mammillary peduncle, the medial forebrain bundle, and the lateral hypothalamus. It also contains fibers which enter the diencephalon through the zona incerta.

  • (4)

    These fibers all haveboutons en passant and short collaterals which terminate in the capsule. Some of these synapse in a repetitive fashion on those HVM dendrites that extend into the capsule.

  • (5)

    In addition to their collaterals and terminals in the capsule, most of the afferents have fine collaterals which penetrate into the interior of HVM. These end as small terminals which do not appear to have any unique specializations. Small swellings andboutons en passant along such penetrating fibers may form axosomatic synapses with the HVM neurons.

References (37)

  • BaileyP. et al.

    The Isocortex of Man

  • BanT. et al.

    Experimental studies on the mammillary peduncle and mammillotegmental tracts in the rabbit

    Med. J. Osaka Univ.

    (1963)
  • BodianD.

    Studies on the diencephalon of the Virginia opossum. Part II. The fiber connections in normal and experimental material

    J. comp. Neurol.

    (1940)
  • BucherV.M. et al.

    Some observations on the fiber connections of the di- and mesencephalon in the cat

    J. comp. Neurol.

    (1953)
  • ChiC.C.

    Afferent connections to the ventromedial nucleus of the hypothalamus in the rat

    Brain Research

    (1970)
  • CowanW.M. et al.

    The origin of the mammillary peduncle and other hypothalamic connexions from the midbrain

    J. Anat. (Lond.)

    (1964)
  • De OlmosJ.S.

    The amygdaloid projection field in the rat as studied with the cupric-silver method

  • DreifussJ.J. et al.

    Contrasting effects of two identified amygdaloid efferent pathways on single hypothalamic neurons

    J. Neurophysiol.

    (1968)
  • Cited by (82)

    • Effective Modulation of Male Aggression through Lateral Septum to Medial Hypothalamus Projection

      2016, Current Biology
      Citation Excerpt :

      Histological analysis revealed that dense ChR2-EYFP fibers encapsulate the VMH in LS-targeted animals (Figures 3B and 3C; see also http://connectivity.brain-map.org/Experiment100141435). Previous Golgi studies revealed that VMHvl cells extend primary dendrites into the fiber plexus surrounding the nucleus, forming dense synapses with axons from distal brain areas [24, 25]. Given the essential role of the VMHvl in male aggression [20–22], we next tested whether the suppression of aggression induced by LS activation was mediated partly through interactions with cells in or around the VMHvl.

    • Efferent and afferent connections of the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus determined by neural tracer analysis: Implications for lordosis regulation in female rats

      2015, Neuroscience Research
      Citation Excerpt :

      It is located just lateral to the arcuate nucleus from the middle to caudal level of the hypothalamus (Paxinos and Watson, 2007). The VMN is surrounded by an area containing dendrites of VMN neurons and afferent projections but is lacking in cells (Millhouse, 1973). Projections of the rat VMN have been reported using autoradiographic method (Saper et al., 1976) or using phaseolus vulgaris-leucoagglutinin (PHA-L) tracing (Canteras et al., 1994).

    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text