Putamen

Basal ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei which are essential for the coordination of movements (so-called extrapyramidal system). They include the caudate nucleus, putamen, globus pallidus, and lenti-form nucleus. Damage of the basal ganglia results in involuntary movements, as are observed in Parkinson s disease and Huntington s chorea. 

A high concentration of DOPs is found in the olfactory bulb, the neocortex, caudate putamen, and in the spinal cord, but they are also present in the gastrointestinal tract and other peripheral tissues. The functional roles of DOP are less clearly established than for MOP they may have a role in analgesia, gastrointestinal motility, mood and behaviour as well as in cardiovascular regulation [2]. 

Motor stereotypy Dorsal striatum (i.e., caudate putamen)... 

Localization CNS Hippocampus (CA1, CA3, DG), septum, amygdala, raphe nuclei CNS Striatum, hippocampus (CA1), substantia nigra, globus pallidus, superior colliculi, spinal cord, raphe nuclei CNS like 5-HT1B but at lower densities. CNS Caudate putamen, parietal cortex, fronto-parietal motor cortex, olfactory tubercle, amygdala CNS Cortex, Thalamus, olfactory bulb (rat), claustrum (g-pig), hippocampus (CA3), spinal cord. 

Localisation CA/S Hippocampus (CA1, CA3, DG), cortex, cerebellum (granular layer), olfactory bulb, habenula, spinal cord CA/S Caudate putamen, olfactory tubercle, nucleus accumbens, cortex, hippocampus (CA1, CA3, DG) CA/S Hippocampus (CA1, CA2), hypothalamus, thalamus, superior colliculus, raphe nuclei... 

Hillefors-Berglund M, Liu Y, von Euler G Persistent, specific and dose-dependent effects of toluene exposure on dopamine D2 agonist binding in the rat caudate-putamen. Toxicology 77 223-232, 1993... 

Fig. 8.1 Rostrocaudal neuroanatomical distribution of CCR5-immunoreactivity in the telencephalon, diencephalon and mesencephalon using a CCR5 antibody (Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA, USA). Regions corresponding to pictures are depicted in coronal diagrams taken from the Paxinos and Watson (1998). (a, b) M Motor cortex, (c, d) CPu caudate putamen (striatum), (e,t)SID substantia innominata dorsal part, (g, h) GP globus pallidus, (i, j)Me medial amygdaloid...

Figure 7.1 Dopamine neuronal pathways. AMYG, amygdala CN, caudate nucleus MFB, medial forebrain bundle NcA, nucleus accumbers OT, olfactory tubercle PUT, putamen SN, substantia nigra. For full details see text and Moore and Bloom (1978) and Lindvall and Bjorkland (1978)...

Figure 7.7 Dopamine-induced rotation in the rat in which one (left) nigrostriatal dopamine pathway from the substantia nigra (SN) to the caudate putamen (CP) has been lesioned by a prior injection (14 days) of 6-hydroxydopamine. Amphetamine, an indirectly acting amine, releases DA and so can only act on the right side. Since the animal moves away from the dominating active side it induces ipsilateral rotation (i.e. towards the lesioned side). By contrast, the development of postS5maptic supersensitivity to DA on the lesioned side ensures that apomorphine, a directly acting agonist, is actually more active on that side and so the animal turns away from it (contralateral rotation)...

Hu, XT and Wang, RY (1988) Comparison of effects of Dj and D2 dopamine receptor agonists on neurons in the rat caudate putamen an electrophysiological study. J. Neurosci. 8 4340-4348. 

Since these neurons form the dopaminergic nigrostriatial tract (Fig. 7.1) it is not surprising that PD patients also show a loss of striatal DA. This was first detected in post-mortem studies in 1960 by Hornykiewicz and numerous studies since have shown that not only is PD associated with and presumably caused by a loss of striatal DA, but at death that loss actually reaches more than 80%. Within the striatum DA loss is greater in the putamen which has predominantly motor links with the cortex than in the caudate mucleus with its connections to cortical association areas. 

In order to understand how the symptoms of PD could arise from a loss of striatal DA and what can be done to replace it and treat PD, it is necessary to know something of basal ganglia circuitry and the role of DA in it. The scheme to be outlined should, however, be regarded as a working template rather than fully proven fact but there is much evidence for it (Fig. 15.2). Certainly the striatum, i.e. the putamen and caudate nucleus, is accepted as the main receiving area in motor circuits. Information coming to... 

Jolkkonen, J, Jenner, P and Marsden, CD (1995) L-Dopa reverses altered gene expression of substance P but not enkephalin in the caudate-putamen of common marmosets treated with MPTP. Brain Res. Mol. Brain Res. 32 297-307. 

As shown in table 2 and figure 9, marked decreases in serotonin uptake sites were observed following MDMA administration in all regions of eaudate putamen, olfactory tubercle, endopiriform nueleus, islands of Calleja, and nucleus aeeumbens. Within the caudate putamen, some time-dependent... 

Cortex Caudate Putamen Hippocampus Hypothalmus Thalamus... 

FIGURE 29-1. Anatomy of the extrapyramidal system. The extrapyramidal motor system controls muscle movement through a system of pathways and nerve tracts that connect the cerebral cortex, basal ganglia, thalamus, cerebellum, reticular formation, and spinal neurons. Patients with Parkinson s disease have a loss of dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra in the brain stem that leads to depletion of dopamine in the corpus striatum. The corpus striatum is made up of the caudate nucleus and the lentiform nuclei that are made up of the putamen and the globus pallidus. 

Vauquelin G, De Keyser J, Banyingela K, Vanhaelen M. ( )Tetrahydroanisocycline and ( )tetrahydropalmatine binding to D and D2 dopaminergic receptors in human putamen. Neurochem Int 1989 15 321-324. 

Figure 7.2 Diurnal variation of extracellular dopamine in the non-human primate putamen. Dopamine concentrations (dm) as determined by high-pressure liquid chromatography of microdialysates obtained from the putamen of two rhesus monkeys across their 12 12 h lights-on (waking 7 00 am 7 00 pm) and lights off (sleep 7 00 pm-7 00 am) periods. Ten minute samples (2 pl/min sampling rate) were derived from nine individual 8 h sessions in each animal in which the sleep-wake state was monitored simultaneously by standard electrophysiological parameters.

Freeman A., Morales J., Beck J. et al. (2006). In vivo diurnal rhythm of dopamine measured in the putamen of non-human primates. Sleep 29(Abstr. Suppl.), A69. 

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