Year: 2011
Type: article
Abstract: The amygdala is part of a neural network that contributes to the regulation of emotional behaviors. Rodents, especially rats, are used extensively as model organisms to decipher the functions of specific amygdala nuclei, in particular in relation to fear and emotional learning. Analysis of the role of the nonhuman primate amygdala in these functions has lagged work in the rodent but provides evidence for conservation of basic functions across species. Here we provide quantitative information regarding the morphological characteristics of the main amygdala nuclei in rats and monkeys, including neuron and glial cell numbers, neuronal soma size, and individual nuclei volumes. The volumes of the lateral, basal, and accessory basal nuclei were, respectively, 32, 39, and 39 times larger in monkeys than in rats. In contrast, the central and medial nuclei were only 8 and 4 times larger in monkeys than in rats. The numbers of neurons in the lateral, basal, and accessory basal nuclei were 14, 11, and 16 times greater in monkeys than in rats, whereas the numbers of neurons in the central and medial nuclei were only 2.3 and 1.5 times greater in monkeys than in rats. Neuron density was between 2.4 and 3.7 times lower in monkeys than in rats, whereas glial density was only between 1.1 and 1.7 times lower in monkeys than in rats. We compare our data in rats and monkeys with those previously published in humans and discuss the theoretical and functional implications that derive from our quantitative structural findings.
DOI: 10.1002/cne.22677
Institutions: University of Fribourg, University of California, Davis
Language: English
Topic: Memory and Neural Mechanisms
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: National Science Foundation, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Université de Fribourg, National Institutes of Health, University of California, Davis, National Institute of Mental Health, National Center for Research Resources, California National Primate Research Center
Awards: California National Primate Research Center, G1361149278, Postnatal development of the hippocampal formation: neuroanatomical studies in the monkey, G1694502515, G289943086, G3250837977, Anatomy of the Primate Amygdaloid Complex, G3783002779, The development of spatial relational memory in children., The development of spatial relational memory in children., G5174808304, Neurobiology of Social Behavior, Postnatal development of the hippocampal formation: neuroanatomical and plasticity studies in monkeys, G9000009237, G9000157836
OpenAlex ID: W1977348028