New perspectives on the functional anatomical organization of the basolateral amygdala

We have examined the functional anatomical organization of the basolateral amygdaloid nucleus (BL) in the rat and guinea pig using combined light and electron microscopic methods. Afferent and efferent connections as well as the internal organization of the BL have been studied with combined tracing, immunohistochemical, and Golgi techniques. We have found that the BL receives an intense cholinergic innervation from the ventral forebrain cholinergic system and, for the first time, described a group of intrinsic cholinergic neurons in the BL. The innervation from the primary olfactory cortex and the thalamus, as well as the GABAergic innervation of the amygdalostriatal projection neurons, is also described. Electron microscopic analyses have shown that the cholinergic system as well as the thalamic afferents primarily innervate the distal dendritic arbor of the projection neurons in the BL, whereas the GABAergic fibers are directed primarily towards their soma and proximal dendrites. Correlated light and electron microscopic studies have revealed that the projection neurons in the BL share many features with pyramidal and spiny stellate cells in the cerebral cortex. The ultrastructural characteristics of the afferent fiber systems and of the non-projection neurons in the BL are also reminiscent of the situation in the cerebral cortex. The observations reported in this study lend further support to the concept of a cortical-like organization of the BL. The anatomical observations of the BL are discussed particularly in relation to three major forebrain systems: 1. the ventral striatopallidal system, 2. the continuum formed by the centromedial amygdala, the substantia innominata and the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, and 3. the cholinergic ventral forebrain system. The clinical implications of the results obtained in this series of experimental studies are discussed in relation to Alzheimer's disease and complex partial seizures. The cholinergic system, in particular, has attracted much interest in relation to senile dementia of Alzheimer's type (SDAT), which often seems to be characterized by disruption of the ventral forebrain cholinergic projection system. We have found that the cholinergic innervation of the BL is often significantly reduced in SDAT, but interestingly enough, the areas of the basolateral amygdala with the highest content of cholinergic markers contain the smallest numbers of senile plaques.