Shozo Jinno

The formation and recall of sensory, motor, and cognitive representations require coordinated fast communication among multiple cortical areas. Interareal projections are mainly mediated by glutamatergic pyramidal cell projections; only few long-range GABAergic connections have been reported. Using in vivo recording and labeling of single cells and retrograde axonal tracing, we demonstrate novel long-range GABAergic projection neurons in the rat hippocampus: (1) somatostatin- and predominantly m

The hippocampus plays a critical role in various cognitive and affective functions. Increasing evidence shows that these functions are topographically distributed along the dorsoventral (septotemporal) and transverse axes of the hippocampus. For instance, dorsal hippocampus is involved in spatial memory and learning whereas ventral hippocampus is related to emotion. Here, we examined the topographic differences (dorsal vs. ventral; suprapyramidal vs. infrapyramidal) in adult neurogenesis in the

Microglia are classically considered to be immune cells in the brain, but have now been proven to be involved in neuronal activity as well. Here we stereologically analyzed the spatial arrangement of microglia in the mouse hippocampus. First, we estimated the numerical densities (NDs) of microglia identified by ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba1). Despite that microglia appeared to be evenly distributed throughout the hippocampal area, the NDs demonstrated significant dorsoventral,

Recent studies have suggested that the perineuronal net (PNN), a specialised extracellular matrix structure, and parvalbumin (PV), an EF-hand calcium-binding protein, are involved in the regulation of plasticity of neural circuits. Here, we aimed to quantitatively estimate the relationship between the two plasticity regulators, PV and PNNs, in the hippocampus of young adult mice. Dual fluorescence staining for PV and Wisteria floribunda agglutinin (a broad PNN marker) showed that a substantial p

We examined the expression of calcium binding proteins parvalbumin (PV), calretinin (CR), and calbindin D28K (CB), and neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) in gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)ergic neurons of the mouse hippocampus, with particular reference to areal and dorsoventral differences. First, we estimated the colocalization of the calcium binding proteins and nNOS. GABAergic neurons containing both PV and nNOS, i.e., PV-immunoreactive (-IR)/nNOS-IR neurons, were rare in Ammon's horn but

Recent studies have emphasized functional dissociations between dorsal and ventral hippocampus in learning, emotion, and affect. A rigorous quantitative analysis concerning lamellar cytoarchitecture would be important for promoting further research on the regional differentiation of the hippocampus. Here, we stereologically estimated the numerical densities (NDs) of glutamatergic principal neurons in the mouse hippocampus and encountered the significant differences along the dorsoventral axis. I

In the rodent brain, diverse functions are topographically distributed within the hippocampus. For instance, the dorsal (septal) hippocampus is involved in spatial memory, whereas the ventral (temporal) hippocampus is related to emotion and anxiety. Accumulating evidence shows that age-dependent decline in hippocampal neurogenesis is associated with impairments of these functions. However, little is known about whether the decline in dentate granule cell production during aging follows a topogra

The connections between the cortex and the striatum are critically involved in control and execution of voluntary movements. Here we focused on the expression of calcium binding protein parvalbumin (PV) in the corticostriatal pathway. Injections of Fluorogold into the striatum gave rise to retrograde labeling of PV-positive neurons in the retrosplenial cortex and somatosensory cortex. The PV-positive corticostriatal projection neurons were mainly found in layer V, but occasionally seen in layers

GABA is a key mediator of neural activity in the mammalian central nervous system, and a diverse set of GABAergic neurons utilize GABA as a transmitter. It has been widely accepted that GABAergic neurons typically serve as interneurons while glutamatergic principal cells send excitatory signals to remote areas. In general, glutamatergic projection neurons monosynaptically innervate both principal cells and local GABAergic interneurons in each target area, and these GABAergic cells play a vital r

The colocalization of parvalbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SS)-like immunoreactivity was studied quantitatively in the mouse hippocampus, with particular reference to their areal and dorsoventral differences. The optical disector method was applied by using a confocal laser scanning microscope with immunofluorescent double-labeling. In the present study, we found a particular subpopulation of hippocampal nonprincipal neurons that contained both PV and SS-like immunoreactivity, i.e., PV-immunoreact