Nuclear organisation of some immunohistochemically identifiable neural systems in five species of insectivore—Crocidura cyanea, Crocidura olivieri, Sylvisorex ollula, Paraechinus aethiopicus and Atelerix frontalis

Publication date: March 2016 Source:Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, Volume 72 Author(s): Tanya Calvey, Nina Patzke, Nigel C. Bennett, Kaswera-Kyamakya Consolate, Emmanuel Gilissen, Abdulaziz N. Alagaili, Osama B. Mohammed, John D. Pettigrew, Paul R. Manger The organization of the cholinergic, catecholaminergic, and serotonergic neurons in the brains of five species of insectivores and the orexinergic (hypocretinergic) system in four insectivore species is presented. We aimed to investigate the nuclear complement of these neural systems in comparison to those of other mammalian species. Brains of insectivores were coronally sectioned and immunohistochemically stained with antibodies against choline acetyltransferase, tyrosine hydroxylase, serotonin and orexin-A. The majority of nuclei were similar among the species investigated and to mammals in general, but certain differences in the nuclear complement highlighted potential phylogenetic interrelationships. In the cholinergic system, the three shrew species lacked parabigeminal and Edinger–Westphal nuclei. In addition, the appearance of the laterodorsal tegmental nucleus in all insectivores revealed a mediodorsal arch. All three of these features are the same as those present in microchiropterans. The catecholaminergic system of the three shrew species lacked the A4 and A15d nuclei, as well as having an incipient A9v nucleus, again features found in microchiropteran brains. The serotonergic and orexin...
Source: Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research