Theme 1: Neural Circuit in the Visual and Visual Association Areas.
We evaluated the visual cortical circuit through the occipito-parietal and occipito-temporal pathways using several tracers in macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta and Macaca fuscata). Figure 1 shows retrogradely labeled neuronal cell bodies and orthogradely labeled fibers and terminals in the lateral intraparietal area LIP after the injections of rhodamine (red) into the visual area V3A and of fast blue (blue) into the anterior intraparietal area AIP. The red arrows in Figure 2 show the results. This circuit processes the information of three-dimensional visual objects that is necessary for hand shaping of object manipulation. The blue arrows in Figure 2 show bypath routes in the occipito-temporal pathways that we found during my stay in NIH.
2001年以降の 論文・著書へ
Figure 3.
Theme 3: Visually Evoked Emotion and its Regulation.
An fMRI project is in progress to evaluate the relationship between emotion and vision.
Hiroyuki Nakamura, M.D., Ph.D.
Theme 2: Crossroad between Emotion and Sense.
The red arrows in Figure 3 show direct projections from the central amygdala nucleus, the output center of emotion, and from the locus coeruleus, noradrenergic nucleus that relates to fight, to the mesencephalic trigeminal nucleus. The nucleus conveys proprioceptive sensory signals from the masticatory muscles and periodontal regament. The results thus suggest that sensory inputs are directly regulated by emotion centers.
Figure 1.
Figure 2.