Cortical projection neuron

Reiner, P. B. McGeer, E. G. (1987). Electrophysiological properties of cortically projecting histamine neurons of the rat hypothalamus. Neurosci. Lett. 73,... 

Tago, H., Kimura, H., Kitahama, K. et al. (1984). Cortical projections of monoamine oxidase-containing neurons from the posterior hypothalamus in the rat. 

The basal forebrain is an important way station in the activation of the cerebral cortex from the reticular activating system. AMPA and NMDA injections into the basal forebrain increase wakefulness and reduce sleep (Cape Jones, 2000 Manfridi et al, 1999), effects that are blocked by AMPA and NMDA receptor antagonists (Manfridi et al, 1999). The excitatory cortical projections of the basal forebrain have long been considered purely cholinergic, but many basal forebrain neurons that project to the cortex are now known to contain Glu, which may function as a co-transmitter or even as the primary excitatory neurotransmitter (Manns et al, 2001). The basal forebrain also affects vigilance via synapses to HCT cells in the lateral hypothalamus some of these synapses are glutamatergic (Henny Jones, 2006). 

Janowski, M. P. Sesack, S. R. (2004). Prefrontal cortical projections to the rat dorsal raphe nucleus ultrastructural features and association with serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid neurons. J. Comp. Neurol. 468, 518-29. 

Glutamatergic neurons are widely distributed throughout the entire brain. Most glutamatergic neurons are so-called projection neurons their axon projects into distant brain regions. Prominent glutamatergic pathways are the connections between different regions of the cerebral cortex (cortico-cortical projections), the connections between thalamus and cortex, and the projections from cortex to striatum (extrapyramidal pathway) and from cortex to brain stem/spinal chord (pyramidal pathway). 

Neuroanatomy. Abnormalities on positron emission tomography (PET) scans of neuronal activity of cortical projections to the basal ganglia have been confirmed by a number of investigators in OCD patients. Specifically, projections from the orbitofrontal—medial prefrontal cortex may be implicated in OCD. Such PET-demonstrated abnormalities in cortical projections to the basal ganglia may even be linked to the severity of symptoms in OCD patients, since they diminish as OCD patients improve, whether that improvement occurs after drag treatment or after behavioral therapy (see Fig. 5—53). 

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