Journal of Neuroscience, Vol 6, 281-292, Copyright © 1986 by Society for Neuroscience
Organization of choline acetyltransferase-containing structures in the forebrain of the rat
T Ichikawa and Y Hirata
The cholinergic structures in the forebrain of the rat were studied
immunohistochemically with a monoclonal antibody to choline
acetyltransferase (ChAT) which has proven to be particularly suited to
reveal the trajectory of ChAT-positive fibers and their terminations. The
habenulo-interpeduncular tract contained the most distinctly ChAT- positive
fibers. Here, ChAT-positivity was demonstrated in the perikarya, fibers and
terminal field. From the basal forebrain, ChAT- positive fiber bundles
could be followed rostrally to the olfactory bulb, dorsomedially to the
neocortex and hippocampus, and dorsocaudally to the hippocampus.
Terminations of ChAT-positive fibers in these regions were either boutons
terminaux (in the interpeduncular nucleus), finely granular (in the
hippocampus) or a network of varicose fibers (in the olfactory bulb and
neocortex). Cholinergic terminal fields were also demonstrated in the
following regions: the nucleus of the lateral olfactory tract, the
olfactory tubercle, the pyriform cortex, the lateral nucleus and part of
the basal nucleus of the amygdala, the caudate-putamen, the nucleus
accumbens, some thalamic nuclei, and the suprachiasmatic nucleus of the
hypothalamus. In most of these regions, ChAT-positivity appeared as either
fine granules or a meshwork of varicose fibers.
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