1Psychiatric Laboratory and Mental Health Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
2Chinese Academy of Science Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230027, China
3Huaxi Brain Research Center, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, Chengdu 610041, China
4School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University, Chengdu 610041, China

Abstract 

The striatum and globus pallidus are principal nuclei of the basal ganglia. Nissl- and acetylcholinesterase-stained sections of the tree shrew brain showed the neuroanatomical features of the caudate nucleus (Cd), internal capsule (ic), putamen (Pu), accumbens, internal globus pallidus, and external globus pallidus. The ic separated the dorsal striatum into the Cd and Pu in the tree shrew, but not in rats and mice. In addition, computer-based 3D images allowed a better understanding of the position and orientation of these structures. These data provided a large-scale atlas of the striatum and globus pallidus in the coronal, sagittal, and horizontal planes, the first detailed distribution of parvalbumin-immunoreactive cells in the tree shrew, and the differences in morphological characteristics and density of parvalbumin-immunoreactive neurons between tree shrew and rat. Our findings support the tree shrew as a potential model for human striatal disorders.

Keywords

Striatum, Globus pallidus, Basal ganglia, Reconstruction, Rodent, Parvalbumin

[SpringerLink]