Supraoptic neurosecretory cells: synaptic inputs from the nucleus accumbens in the rat

Synaptic inputs from the nucleus accumbens (ACB) to neurosecretory cells of the supraoptic nucleus (SON) were studied in the rat. One hundred and twenty SON neurones responded antidromically to pituitary stalk stimulation and were identified as neurosecretory cells. Sixty-three of these cells were identified as vasopressin-secreting cells and 45 as oxytocin-secreting cells by their spontaneous firing patterns. About one half of the vasopressin-cells and two thirds of the oxytocin-cells were responsive to stimulation of the basal forebrain including the ACB. More vasopressin-cells were excited than were inhibited, and oxytocin-cells were mainly inhibited. Depth profile of effective stimulation sites in the basal forebrain revealed that ACB stimulation selectively produced the responses. Most of those SON neurones responsive to ACB stimulation also responded to septal stimulation. A positive correlation was observed between responses to ACB and septal stimulation in each unit. After septal lesion, the number of SON neurones which were responsive to ACB stimulation was significantly decreased. In two rats, a single SON unit was tested for ACB stimulation both before and after septal lesion, and the previously observed synaptic inputs were not seen after the lesion. Fifty septal neurones projecting to the area including the SON were antidromically identified after SON stimulation. About one half of these neurones were excited by ACB stimulation. These results demonstrate the existence of a neural pathway from the ACB to the SON and suggest that the pathway is mediated by septal neurones.