Dopaminergic cell groups

Group A8 is a small group of dopaminergic cells in rodents[5] and primates.[3] It is located in the midbrain reticular formation dorsolateral to the substantia nigra at the level of the red nucleus and caudally. In the mouse it is identified with the retrorubral field as defined by classical stains.[6]

Group A9 is the most densely packed group of dopaminergic cells, and is located in the ventrolateral midbrain of rodents[5] and primates.[3] It is for the most part identical with the pars compacta of the substantia nigra as seen from the accumulation of neuromelanin pigment in the midbrain of healthy, adult humans.

Group A10 is the largest group of dopaminergic cells in the ventral midbrain tegmentum of rodents[5] and primates.[3] The cells are located for the most part in the ventral tegmental area, the linear nucleus and, in primates, the part of central gray of the midbrain located between the left and right oculomotor nuclear complexes.

Group A11 is a small group of dopaminergic cells located in the posterior periventricular nucleus and the intermediate periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus in the macaque.[3] In the rat, small numbers of cells assigned to this group are also found in the posterior nucleus of hypothalamus, the supramammillary area and the reuniens nucleus.[5] Dopaminergic cells in A11 may be important in the modulation of auditory processing.[7]

Group A12 is a small group of cells in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus in primates.[3] In the rat a few cells belonging to this group are also seen in the anteroventral portion of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus.[5]

Group A13 is distributed in clusters that, in the primate, are ventral and medial to the mammillothalamic tract of the hypothalamus; a few extend into the reuniens nucleus of the thalamus.[3] In the mouse, A13 is located ventral to the mammillothalamic tract of the thalamus in the zona incerta.[6]

Group A14 consists of a few cells observed in and near the preoptic periventricular nucleus of the primate.[3] In the mouse, cells in the anterodorsal preoptic nucleus are assigned to this group.[6]

Group A15 exists in a few species, such as sheep, and immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase, a precursor of dopamine, in many other species including rodents and primates. It is located in ventral and dorsal components within the preoptic periventricular nucleus and adjacent parts of the anterior hypothalamic region. It is continuous caudally with the dopaminergic group A14.[8]

Group A16 is located in the olfactory bulb of vertebrates, including rodents and primates.[2]

Group Aaq is a sparse group of cells located in the rostral half of the central gray of the midbrain in primates. It is more prominent in the squirrel monkey (Saimiri) than the macaque.[3]

This group is a population of cells immunoreactive for dopamine and tyrosine hydroxylase that are broadly distributed in the rostral forebrain, including such structures as: substantia innominata, diagonal band, olfactory tubercle, prepyriform area, striatum (at levels rostral to the anterior commissure), claustrum, and deep cortical layers of all gyri of the frontal lobe rostral to the head of the caudate nucleus; the cells are also numerous in intervening white matter, including the external capsule, extreme capsule and frontal white matter. They are found in the rodent, the macaque and the human.[4]

• Dopaminergic pathways
• History of catecholamine research

• Dahlstrom A, Fuxe K (1964). "Evidence for the existence of monoamine-containing neurons in the central nervous system". Acta Physiologica Scandinavica. 62: 1–55. PMID 14229500.
• Dubach MF (1994). "11:Telencephalic dopamine cells in monkeys, humans and rats". In Smeets WJAJ, Reiner A (eds.). Phylogeny and Development of Catecholamine Systems in the CNS of Vertebrates. Cambridge, England: University Press. ISBN 978-0-5214-4251-0. OCLC 29952121.
• Felten DL, Sladek Jr JR (1983). "Monoamine distribution in primate brain V. Monoaminergic nuclei: anatomy, pathways and local organization". Brain Research Bulletin. 10 (2): 171–284. doi:10.1016/0361-9230(83)90045-x. PMID 6839182.
• Fuxe K, Hoekfelt T, Ungerstedt U (1970). "Morphological and functional aspects of central monoamine neurons". International Review of Neurobiology. 13: 93–126. doi:10.1016/S0074-7742(08)60167-1.
• Nevue AA, Felix II RA, Portfors CV (November 2016). "Dopaminergic projections of the subparafascicular thalamic nucleus to the auditory brainstem". Hearing Research. 341: 202–209. doi:10.1016/j.heares.2016.09.001. PMC 5111623. PMID 27620513.
• Paxinos G, Franklin KB (2001). The Mouse Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates (2nd ed.). San Diego: Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-1254-7636-2. OCLC 493265554.
• Smeets WJAJ, Reiner A (1994). "20:Catecholamines in the CNS of vertebrates: current concepts of evolution and functional significance". In Smeets WJAJ, Reiner A (eds.). Phylogeny and Development of Catecholamine Systems in the CNS of Vertebrates. Cambridge, England: University Press. ISBN 978-0-5214-4251-0. OCLC 29952121.
• Tillet Y (1994). "9: Catecholaminergic neuronal systems in the diencephalon of mammals". In Smeets WJAJ, Reiner A (eds.). Phylogeny and Development of Catecholamine Systems in the CNS of Vertebrates. Cambridge, England: University Press. ISBN 978-0-5214-4251-0. OCLC 29952121.

• More information at BrainInfo