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Bulbar and pontine sources of catecholamine innervation of the rat spinal cord investigated by monoamine fluorescence and retrograde labeling techniques

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Abstract

The organization of sources providing catecholaminergic innervation of the upper thoracic spinal cord was investigated in rats using a sensitive technique specific to tracing connections between catecholaminergic neurons. Large numbers of pontine catecholaminergic neurons belonging to groups A5, A6, and A7 and some single cells from medullary group A1 send out direct projections to the spinal cord. It is postulated that pontine catecholaminergic neurons contributing to innervation of the spinal cord and the medulla are noradrenaline-containing and adrenaline-containing respectively.

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A. A. Bogomolets Institute of Physiology, Academy of Sciences of the Ukranian SSR, Kiev. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 503–512, July–August, 1986.

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Doroshenko, N.Z., Maiskii, V.A. Bulbar and pontine sources of catecholamine innervation of the rat spinal cord investigated by monoamine fluorescence and retrograde labeling techniques. Neurophysiology 18, 367–374 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052806

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01052806

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