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Histochemical Study of Monoamine Oxidase in the Developing Rat Brain

Nature volume 184, pages 650–651 (1959)Cite this article

Abstract

THE activity of monoamine oxidase was biochemically determined in various portions of the brain1,2 and the strongest activity was reported to occur in the hypothalamus. Shimizu, Morikawa and Okada3 recently reported the exact histochemical distribution of this enzyme in the brain of adult rodents using the tryptamine-tetrazolium method4. According to our observation, the enzyme action occurred not only in the hypothalamus, interpeduncular nucleus, habenular nucleus and tractus retroflexus of Meynert as other investigators4,5 stated, but also most strongly in the locus coeruleus and moderately in the dorsal nucleus of the vagus nerve, midline nuclear group of the thalamus, nucleus of the brachium conjunctivum, central grey matter, nucleus ambiguus and area postrema. From the histochemical result it is assumed that monoamine oxidase may be involved in the metabolism of the visceral regions of the brain rather than in the exclusive participation in the function of adrenergic neurons.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Osaka University Medical School, Osaka-shi, Japan

    NOBUO SHIMIZU & NOGAAKI MORIKAWA

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  1. NOBUO SHIMIZU
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  2. NOGAAKI MORIKAWA
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SHIMIZU, N., MORIKAWA, N. Histochemical Study of Monoamine Oxidase in the Developing Rat Brain. Nature 184, 650–651 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/184650b0

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