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Abstract
Immunocytochemistry, radioimmunological assay after surgical cuts, anterograde degeneration
and retrograde tracing of fluorescent dyes were used in order to elucidate the cholecystokinin-containing
afferents to the ventral striatum (nucleus accumbens, olfactory tubercle and ventral
part of the caudate-putamen). In agreement with the report by Hökfelt et al., midbrain
cholecystokinin-containing cells supply the posteromedial parts of the nucleus accumbens
and olfactory tubercle, as well as the subcommissural part of caudate-putamen. Brainstem
cholecystokinin afferents also reach more rostral parts of the ventral striatum including
the rostrolateral olfactory tubercle. The ascending cholecystokinin axons enter the
medial forebrain bundle at the meso-diencephalic border and maintain a rough medial
to lateral topography at the caudal diencephalon. A second major cholecystokinin pathway,
with possible origin in the piriform and medial prefrontal cortices and/or the amygdala,
projects to the subcommissural caudate-putamen, the olfactory tubercle, the lateral
part of the nucleus accumbens and the dorsal part of the bed nucleus of stria terminalis.
Finally, the rostral part of the dorsal caudate-putamen receives a substantial cholecystokinin
innervation from the basolateral amygdala and possibly from the neocortex. According
to radioimmunological data, the descending telencephalic cholecystokinin system accounts
for about 60% of all cholecystokinin in the rostral forebrain. The combined use of
morphological and biochemical methods provided evidence for a partially overlapping
distribution and possible interaction between an ascending brainstem and descending
telencephalic cholecystokinin fiber systems within the striatum and related rostral
forebrain areas.