Tetsuro Yamamoto

The medial dorsal nucleus is one of the thalamic relays of the cerebellocerebral responses to the frontal association cortex in the monkey: horseradish peroxidase and fluorescent dye double staining study.

To reveal the thalamic relay nucleus of the cerebellocerebral responses in the frontal association cortex, simultaneous labeling of the cerebellothalamic (C-T) terminals and the thalamocortical (T-Cx) neurons was performed in three monkeys. Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was injected into the deep cerebellar nuclei and small doses of HRP or fluorescent dye were injected into the prefrontal cortex. The distribution of anterogradely labeled C-T terminals and retrogradely labeled T-Cx neurons was examined in the same sections. In addition to being distributed in the ventral thalamic nuclei and nucleus X, as previously reported, anterogradely labeled terminals were distributed in the ventrolateral part of the medial dorsal (MD) nucleus where retrogradely labeled thalamo-frontal projection neurons were localized. This study revealed that the ventrolateral parts of the MD together (MDmf, MDpc and MDdc) form one of the thalamic relays of the cerebelloprefrontal responses.

Electrophysiological and morphological studies on thalamic neurons receiving entopedunculo- and cerebello-thalamic projections in the cat.

Electrophysiological studies on the entopedunculo- and cerebello-thalamic projections were performed by intracellular recordings in the thalamic VA, VL and VM nuclei of cats under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia. Identification of the thalamic neurons were performed electrophysiologically by antidromic activation on stimulation of the precruciate cortex (areas 4 and 6) and the caudate nucleus, and morphologically by intracellular staining with HRP through recording microelectrodes. One hundred and sixty-three neurons were collected in the VA, VL and VM nuclei. In 79 neurons penetrated in the medial and ventral parts of the VA and VL nuclei, stimulation of the entopeduncular nucleus induced monosynaptic IPSPs (latency of 1.1-3.5 ms, mean 2.07 ms). Sixteen neurons were identified as thalamo-cortical relay neurons and 3 were activated only orthodromically by precruciate stimulation. Seventy-eight neurons located dorsolaterally to the entopeduncular-influenced neurons received only cerebellar EPSPs. Only 6 neurons showed convergence of entopeduncular and cerebellar inputs. They were scattered around the border between the entopeduncular and cerebellar projection areas. Sixteen neurons could be stained intracellularly by HRP injection. From the pattern of dendritic arborization, two types of neurons can be distinguished: neurons whose dendrites spread radially in all directions and neurons whose dendrites extend mainly along the long axis of the soma for a long distance in the frontal plane, respectively. The former are relay cells to the cerebral cortex or the caudate nucleus (i.e. projection neurons) and the latter appear to be interneurons in the thalamus.

Developmental changes in the electrophysiological properties of neonatal rat oculomotor neurons studied in vitro.

The electrophysiological properties of oculomotor neurons were studied in neonatal rats aged 1-15 days. Action potentials were recorded from brainstem slices (frontal section) using the intracellular recording method at 35 degrees C. No significant age-dependent differences were detected in the resting potential (around -55 mV) and in the amplitude of the action potential (approximately 60 mV). However, the input resistance of oculomotor neurons declined with age from a mean of 60.8 M omega for rats 1-3 days old to 17.0 M omega for rats 14-15 days old. In addition, the duration of the action potential measured at the half-amplitude gradually decreased from 0.74 ms to 0.34 ms with increasing age. Increases were detected in the maximum rate of rise (from 117 V/s to 181 V/s) and the maximum rate of fall (from -67 V/s to -103 V/s) of the action potential. When long-lasting (500 ms) depolarizing current pulses were applied to oculomotor neurons, some neurons exhibited continuous repetitive discharge (i.e. tonic firing) while others showed transient discharge (phasic firing). The proportion of tonic-type neurons increased with age: the value was 9% for rats 1-5 days old, 37% for rats 6-10 days old and 54% for rats 11-15 days old. Concomitantly, the number of neurons showing a time-dependent inward rectification increased and the average maximum frequency of the discharge rose from 150 to 420 Hz, approximately, with age. Furthermore, it was found that the electrophysiological properties of oculomotor neurons of rats 14-15 days old were similar to those in adult rats. It is concluded that oculomotor neurons in neonatal rats show rapid alterations in their electrophysiological properties and that the ratio of tonic-type to phasic-type neurons changes during the early stages of development.

Observations on morphology and electrophysiological properties of the normal and axotomized facial motoneurons in the cat.

The correlation between the morphology of facial motoneurons stained intracellularly with horseradish peroxidase and their physiological parameters was examined in cats following facial nerve section and in cats with intact facial nerve. A certain statistical relationship exists between cell size and excitability in normal neurons. After axotomy, facial neurons showed a slow conduction velocity and a low rheobasic current, but had a normal cell size. Physiological changes include repetitive firing in response to intracellular current injection, reflecting an increase in the excitability in the axotomized neurons.

Long-term potentiation and depression in layer III and V pyramidal neurons of the cat sensorimotor cortex in vitro.

Synaptic plasticity of the cat sensorimotor cortex was examined intracellularly in vitro. After tetanic stimulation of the white matter, layer III and V pyramidal neurons showed long-term potentiation (LTP) of EPSPs in high incidence without GABA(A) antagonist. The incidence and magnitude of LTP were very conspicuous in layer V cells. After an NMDA receptor antagonist application, the synaptic potentiation was blocked completely in layer III but not in layer V cells. Long-term depression (LTD) of the evoked EPSPs was also induced by the same stimulation in some layer III cells, where a transient hyperpolarization of the membrane potential was observed during tetanus.

The burst firing in the layer III and V pyramidal neurons of the cat sensorimotor cortex in vitro.

We identified the burst and single-spiking cells, and the repetitive bursting cells in layers III and V of the cat sensorimotor cortex with intracellular recording and staining techniques. Both types of the bursting cells were found in 22.7% of the recorded layer V neurons and in 23.1% of the recorded neurons in layer III. The bursting cells were characterized by the prominent afterdepolarization (ADP) which was usually reaching the threshold depolarization. Intracellular staining revealed that the morphology of the bursting cells was not so different from that of the regular-spiking cells in the cat.

Short latency activation of local circuit neurons in the cat somatosensory cortex

Intracellular horseradish peroxidase (HRP) study was performed in the cat primary somatosensory cortex (SI) under Nembutal anesthesia. Response properties of neurons were analysed with stimulation of the peripheral nerve (superficial radial nerve; SR) and thalamic ventrobasal nucleus (VB). A total number of 23 cells (15 in layers III and IV, 6 in layer V and 2 in layer VI) were identified morphologically as local circuit neurons with intracellular HRP staining. The latencies of SR-induced (7.7-8.5 ms) as well as VB-induced excitatory postsynaptic potentials (EPSPs) (1.3-1.5 ms) were significantly shorter than those of pyramidal neurons (9.1-10.6 ms for SR and 1.6-2.8 ms VB EPSPs). Morphological features of identified local circuit neurons are all, except one in layer VI, aspiny and presumed to be inhibitory in nature. The present study indicates that presumed inhibitory interneurons in the cat SI could be activated first by thalamic inputs among cortical neurons and set to inhibit the output cells for the sharp contrast in the sensory processing.

Morphology of layer V pyramidal neurons in the cat somatosensory cortex: an intracellular HRP study ☆

Pyramidal tract (PT) or corticopontine neurons of the cat somatosensory cortex (SI) were identified with antidromic activation on stimulation of the bulbar pyramid or pontine nuclei (PN) and stained intracellularly with HRP after examining the electrophysiological properties. Comparison of the conduction velocity of the stem axons and the soma-dendritic morphology revealed that in the cat SI, there exists two types of layer V pyramidal neurons, i.e. one has smooth apical dendrites with larger soma (51.6 +/- 9.5 x 22.7 +/- 2.8 micron) and the other has richly spinous apical dendrites with smaller soma (34.0 +/- 8.8 x 15.3 +/- 3.3 micron). The former group responded antidromically at latencies shorter than 1 ms by PT stimulation or 1.5 ms by PN stimulation, respectively. These values were consistent with the borderline latencies between two similar groups of layer V pyramidal neurons in the motor (fast and slow PTNs) and parietal (aspiny and spiny layer V corticopontine neurons) cortices in the cat.

Organization of afferent connections to the lateral and interpositus cerebellar nuclei from the brainstem relay nuclei: a horseradish peroxidase study in the cat

Afferent projections to the lateral (dentate) and interpositus cerebellar nuclei from the brainstem relay nuclei were studied in cats using the horseradish peroxidase (HRP) method. In the first series of experiments, HRP was injected into the brachium pontis. Mossy fiber terminals were anterogradely labeled, predominantly in the lateral (hemispherical) part, moderately in the intermediate part, and slightly in the vermal part of the cerebellum. Besides these terminals in the cerebellar cortex, axon terminals labeled anterogradely were also found in the cerebellar nuclei. The labeled terminals appeared almost exclusively in the lateral nucleus and rarely in the interpositus nucleus. Cells labeled retrogradely were found both in the pontine nuclei and the tegmental reticular nucleus, but not in other brainstem nuclei. In the second series of experiments, HRP was injected into the lateral and interpositus nuclei, and retrograde labeling was examined in the brainstem relay nuclei. After HRP injection into the lateral nucleus, the number of labeled cells was significantly large in the pontine nuclei, but fairly small in the reticular or vestibular nuclei. The number of labeled cells was generally large in the inferior olive, mainly in the principal olive. After HRP injection into the interpositus nucleus, the number of labeled cells was moderate in the reticular or vestibular nuclei, but small in the pontine nuclei. The number of labeled cells in the inferior olive was also large, being distributed mainly in the accessory olives. These results indicate that the pontine nuclei and the principal olive provide major afferent inputs to the lateral nucleus, whereas the reticular nuclei, the vestibular nuclei and the accessory olives are the major afferent sources to the interpositus nucleus.

Electrophysiological and morphological features of rat claustral neurons : An intracellular staining study

The electrophysiological and morphological features of neurons in the rat rostral claustrum were examined using intracellular recording and staining methods in vivo. A total of 31 neurons were analysed electrophysiologically, and 21 of these were stained well with intracellular biocytin injection. The following electrophysiological properties were analysed by intracellular current injection: firing properties, the shape of single action potentials and input resistance. The firing patterns of the claustral neurons seemed to be similar to those of regular spiking cells in the cerebral cortex. They had action potentials with a maximum rate of rise much higher than that of fall, and showed spike-frequency adaptation during long depolarizing pulses. The morphological analysis demonstrated that the claustral neurons were of various types: the somata were polygonal, triangular, ovoid, round, or fusiform, sometimes with a stout dendrite. Such a dendrite extended toward the superficial layers in the more rostral orbital cortex, and was revealed to be a distorted apical dendrite by a three-dimensional computer-aided system. The embryological origin of the claustrum has been a matter of controversy: two main hypotheses of cortical germinal origin and ganglionic eminence origin. Considering the firing patterns and morphological features, the present findings suggest that the neurons in the rostral claustrum share some physiological characteristics with cortical neurons in rats.