Cytoarchitectonics and Neuronal Organization of the Basolateral Nucleus of the Amygdaloid Body of the Brain in Rats Preferring and Not Preferring Alcohol

Analysis of the cytoarchitectonics of the basolateral (BL) nucleus of the amygdaloid body (AB) was performed using cresyl violet-stained frontal paraffin sections of the brains of 10 alcohol-preferring (AP) and 10 alcohol non-preferring (NAP) rats (with equal numbers of males and females in each group). Large and small neurons were found in the BL nucleus. Most large neurons in AP rats were chromoneutral or moderately chromophilic, while those in NAP rats were moderately chromophobic. Studies using the Golgi method showed that long-axon densely branched pyramid-shaped neurons were equivalents of large neurons, while short-axon neurons corresponded to small neurons. Assessment of the ratio of large to small neurons showed that the proportion of the latter in AP rats was 12.3 ± 0.6%, while that in NAP rats was significantly greater, at 19.70 ± 0.23%. These results explain previously reported data showing that the greater specific area of the BL nucleus of the AB in NAP rats was due to the presence of larger numbers of interneurons than present in AP rats.

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