Tuberomammillary nucleus

The histamine neurons in the tuberomammillary nucleus, in the posterior hypothalamus, project to the cortex and thalamus and receive an afferent input from... 

Figure 2.4 Flip-flop switch model of wake and slow wave sleep active systems. Mutually inhibitory connections exist between GABAergic/Galaninergic slow wave sleep active neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO) of the anterior hypothalamus and aminergic neurons in the hypothalamus (histamine (HA) neurons in the tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN)) and brainstem (serotonin (5-HT) neurons in the dorsal raphe (DR) and noradrenaline (NA) neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC)). Orexinergic neurons in the perifornical hypothalamus (PFH) stabilize the waking state via excitation of the waking side of the flip-flop switch (aminergic neurons).

Figure 6.2 The location and distribution of the histamine-containing neurons in the brain. These neurons are localized in the tuberomammiUaiy nucleus within the posterior hypothalamus and send projections throughout the brain. Abbreviations Hi, hippocampus Hy, hypothalamus IC, inferior colliculus OB, olfactory bulb SC, superior colliculus SI, substantia innominata St, striatum TH, thalamus TMN, tuberomammillary nucleus. Adapted from Watanabe Yanai (2001).

Ericson, H., Blomqvist, A. Kohler, C. (1989). Brainstem afferents to the tuberomammillary nucleus in the rat brain with special reference to monoaminergic innervation. J. Comp. Neurol 281, 169-92. 

Eriksson, K. S., Sergeeva, O., Brown, R. E. 8r Haas, H. L. (2001a). Orexin/hypocretin excites the histaminergic neurons of the tuberomammillary nucleus. J. Neurosci. 21, 9273-9. 

Gerashchenko, D., Chou, T. C Bianco-Centurion, C. A., Saper, C. B. Shiromani, P. J. (2004). Effects of lesions of the histaminergic tuberomammillary nucleus on spontaneous sleep in rats. Sleep 27, 1275-81. 

Yang, Q. Z. Hatton, G. I. (1997). Electrophysiology of excitatory and inhibitory afferents to rat histaminergic tuberomammillary nucleus neurons from hypothalamic and forebrain sites. Brain Res. 773, 162-72. 

The neural structures involved in the promotion of the waking (W) state are located in the (1) brainstem [dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN), median raphe nucleus (MRN), locus coeruleus (LC), laterodorsal and pedunculopontine tegmental nuclei (LDT/PPT), and medial-pontine reticular formation (mPRF)] (2) hypothalamus [tuberomammillary nucleus (TMN) and lateral hypothalamus (LH)[ (3) basal forebrain (BFB) (medial septal area, nucleus basalis of Meynert) and (4) midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) and substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) (Pace-Schott Hobson, 2002 Jones, 2003). The following neurotransmitters function to promote W (1) acetylcholine (ACh LDT/PPT, BFB) (2) noradrenaline (NA LC) (3) serotonin (5-HT DRN, MRN) (4) histamine (HA TMN) (5) glutamate (GLU mPRF, BFB, thalamus) (6) orexin (OX LH) and (7) dopamine (DA VTA, SNc) (Zoltoski et al, 1999 Monti, 2004). 

Hypothalamus medial and lateral preoptic areas anterior, lateral, and posterior hypothalamic areas dorsomedial and ventromedial nuclei tuberomammillary nucleus medial and lateral preoptic areas, lateral hypothalamic area, dorsomedial nucleus, complex of mammillary bodies... 

Tuberomammillary nucleus (histamine) highest lower lowest increased during W... 

Hong, Z. Y., Huang, Z. L., Qu, W. M. et al. (2005). An adenosine A receptor agonist induces sleep by increasing GABA release in the tuberomammillary nucleus to inhibit histaminergic systems in rats. J. Neurochem. 92 (6), 1542-9. 

The importance of peptide transmitters in the modulation of sleep and wakefulness has become apparent in recent years. Previous work had focused on the role of monoamines in the circuitry that regulates the transitions between states of vigilance. Histaminergic neurons in the tuberomammillary nucleus are known to be key players in the activation of subcortical afferents during wakefulness (Wada et al, 1991). Activity of noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus correlates with the state of vigilance (Jones, 1991). The role of serotonergic neurons in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep has also been established (Lydic et al., 1987 Monti Jantos, 1992 Fabre et al., 2000). 

Other areas of the human brain have not been studied in detail. In Alzheimer s disease, neurofibrillary tangles are found to colocalize with histamine in the tuberomammillary areas in the posterior hypothalamus1, and significantly reduced neuron numbers of the tuberomammillary nucleus in Alzheimer s brains33 have been reported. 

PP, peripeduncular nucleus PR, prerubral field Reth, retroethmoid nucleus RMC, red nucleus, magnocellular RPC, red nucleus, parvocellular scp, superior cerebellar peduncle SNC, substantia nigra, compact part SNL, substantia nigra, lateral part SNR, substantia nigra, reticular part SPFPC, subparafascicular thalamic nucleus, parvocellular part SuML, supramammillary nucleus, lateral part VTA, ventral tegmental area VTM, ventral tuberomammillary nucleus ZID, zona incerta, dorsal part ZIV, zona incerta, ventral part 3, oculomotor nucleus 3n, oculomotor nerve or its root. Reproduced with permission from Paxinos and Watson (1998) and Paxinos et al. (1999). 

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