Table 1.
Summary of methods used in studies on the cholinergic innervation of the primate thalamus
| Molecule studied | Authors | Genus | Fixation | Postfixation | Technique used | Plane of cutting | Stereotaxic space | Thalamic nomenclature | Parcellation stains | Studied thalamic regions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ChAT | Steriade et al. (1988) | Macaque, Cat | Perfusion (PFA + GTA) | Immersion (PFA) | IMHQ | Coronal | Not specified |
Not specified Only major subdivisions |
Not specified | Relay and association nuclei |
| ChAT | Heckers et al. (1992) | Human | Immersion (PFA) | – | IMHQ | Coronal | Not specified | Hirai and Jones (1989) | Nissl, AChE | Whole thalamus |
| ChAT and vAChT | Rico and Cavada (1998b) | Macaque | Perfusion (PFA) | – | IMHQ | Coronal | YES | Olszewski (1952) | Nissl, AChE, Myelin | Whole thalamus |
| Nicotinic receptors | Cimino et al. (1992) | Macaque | Unfixed sections | – | Autoradiography | Coronal | Not specified | Olszewski (1952) | Not specified | Whole brain |
| Immersion (PFA) | – | In situ hybridization | ||||||||
| Nicotinic receptors | Rubboli et al. (1994) | Human | Unfixed sections | – | Autoradiography | Coronal | Not specified |
Not specified Only major subdivisions |
Not specified | Whole brain |
| Immersion (PFA) | – | In situ hybridization | ||||||||
| Nicotinic receptors | Spurden et al. (1997) | Human | Unfixed sections | – | Autoradiography | Coronal | Not specified | Hirai and Jones (1989) | Not specified | Whole thalamus |
| Nicotinic receptors | Court et al. (1999) | Human | Unfixed sections | – | Autoradiography | Coronal | Not specified | Hirai and Jones (1989) | AChE, Nissl | Whole thalamus |
| Nicotinic receptors | Han et al. (2000) | Macaque | Perfusion (PFA) | Immersion (PFA) | In situ hybridization | Coronal | Not specified | Only major subdivisions | Nissl | Whole brain |
| Nicotinic receptors | Quik et al. (2000) | Saimiri | Frozen-cut sections. Immersion (PFA) | – | In situ hybridization | Coronal | Not specified | Emmers and Akert (1963) | Nissl | Whole brain |
AChE Acetylcholinesterase, ChAT choline acetyltransferase, GTA glutaraldehyde, IMHQ immunohistochemistry, PFA paraformaldehyde, vAChT vesicular transporter of acetylcholine