QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (36) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Jiao, Y. Articles by Reiner, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Jiao, Y. Articles by Reiner, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

The Journal of Neuroscience, September 15, 2000, 20(18):6998-7010

Identification of the Anterior Nucleus of the Ansa Lenticularis in Birds as the Homolog of the Mammalian Subthalamic Nucleus

Yun Jiao¹, Loreta Medina², C. Leo Veenman³, Claudio Toledo⁴, Luis Puelles², and Anton Reiner¹

¹ Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee-Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee 38163, ² Department of Morphological Sciences, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Murcia, Campus de Espinardo, Murcia 30100, Spain, ³ Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Technion Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096 Israel, and ⁴ Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo-SP, 05508-900 Brazil

In mammals, the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a glutamatergic diencephalic cell group that develops in the caudal hypothalamus and migrates to a position above the cerebral peduncle. By its input from the external pallidal segment and projection to the internal pallidal segment, STN plays a critical role in basal ganglia functions. Although the basal ganglia in birds is well developed, possesses the same major neuron types as in mammals, and plays a role in movement control similar to that in mammals, it has been uncertain whether birds possess an STN. We report here evidence indicating that the so-called anterior nucleus of the ansa lenticularis (ALa) is the avian homolog of mammalian STN. First, the avian ALa too develops within the mammillary hypothalamic area and migrates to a position adjacent to the cerebral peduncle. Second, ALa specifically receives input from dorsal pallidal neurons that receive input from enkephalinergic striatal neurons, as is true of STN. Third, ALa projects back to avian dorsal pallidum, as also the case for STN in mammals. Fourth, the neurons of ALa contain glutamate, and the target neurons of ALa in dorsal pallidum possess AMPA-type glutamate receptor profiles resembling those of mammalian pallidal neurons. Fifth, unilateral lesions of ALa yield behavioral disturbances and movement asymmetries resembling those observed in mammals after STN lesions. These various findings indicate that ALa is the avian STN, and they suggest that the output circuitry of the basal ganglia for motor control is similar in birds and mammals.

Key words: striatum; pallidum; motor functions; segmental development; evolution; glutamate

---

Copyright © 2000 Society for Neuroscience  0270-6474/00/20186998-13$05.00/0

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. B. Butler and R. M. J. Cotterill Mammalian and avian neuroanatomy and the question of consciousness in birds. Biol. Bull., October 1, 2006; 211(2): 106 - 127. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Farries, J. Meitzen, and D. J. Perkel Electrophysiological Properties of Neurons in the Basal Ganglia of the Domestic Chick: Conservation and Divergence in the Evolution of the Avian Basal Ganglia J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2005; 94(1): 454 - 467. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. A. Farries and D. J. Perkel A Telencephalic Nucleus Essential for Song Learning Contains Neurons with Physiological Characteristics of Both Striatum and Globus Pallidus J. Neurosci., May 1, 2002; 22(9): 3776 - 3787. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Luo, L. Ding, and D. J. Perkel An Avian Basal Ganglia Pathway Essential for Vocal Learning Forms a Closed Topographic Loop J. Neurosci., September 1, 2001; 21(17): 6836 - 6845. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help