Galanin in the brain: chemoarchitectonics and brain cartography--a historical review

We present a review of galanin in the brain from a historical perspective of the development of "chemoarchitectonics" and "brain cartography" accomplished in the Histopharmacology Section at the National Institutes of Health. It was the mapping of potential brain neuroregulators that served as a springboard of ideas from which behavioral studies emanate. The integration of the known localization of neurotransmitter/neuromodulatory nerves ("chemoarchitectonic maps") and receptor binding sites with biochemical data derived from brain micropunches coupled with behavioral analysis at the level of discrete brain allows one to define the anatomical circuits which support behavioral changes and which ultimately will improve our understanding of mental disorders.