Autoradiographic localization of muscimol and baclofen binding sites in rodent cingulate cortex

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Abstract
The laminar distribution of 3H-muscimol and 3H-baclofen binding was analyzed autoradiographically in areas 29c and 24b of rat cingulate cortex. Muscimol binding was heterogeneous in area 29c with a single peak in layer Ia of 320±26 grains per 2500 μm2. Binding in deeper layers was between 46% and 71% of that in layer Ia. There was a marked diurnal variation in muscimol binding in area 29c such that binding was elevated by 320% in layer Ia of brains perfused at 22∶00–01∶00 versus those perfused at 11∶00–14∶00. Muscimol binding in area 24b was uniform across all layers and was higher than that in area 29c except for in layer Ia. Baclofen binding was homogeneous in both areas, but was 120% greater in area 24b than in area 29c, and showed no diurnal variations. To localize muscimol binding sites at the cellular level, two types of lesion experiments were conducted in area 29c. First, ablation of neurons intrinsic to this cortex with the neurotoxin ibotenic acid reduced muscimol binding to homogeneity with a 70% reduction in layer Ia and a 29–42% reduction in deeper layers. Second, knife cuts, which were placed to isolate cingulate cortex from fiber pathways originating extrinsically, increased muscimol binding in all layers except layer Ia. Conversely, knife cuts which isolated superficial from deep layers yielded a marked drop in muscimol binding in all layers. In conclusion, muscimol binding sites are heterogeneously distributed in area 29c with peak binding in layer Ia at night. Since experimental observations suggest that muscimol binding is located on pyramidal cell apical tuft dendrites, it is possible that excitatory thalamic and intrinsic inhibitory input via GABAA receptors on apical dendrites interact before arriving at the soma.