Université de Fribourg

Stereological analysis of the rat and monkey amygdala

Chareyron, Loïc J. ; Banta Lavenex, Pamela A. ; Amaral, David G. ; Lavenex, Pierre

In: The Journal of Comparative Neurology, 2011, vol. 519, no. 16, p. 3218–3239

The amygdala is part of a neural network that contributes to the regulation of emotional behaviors. Rodents, especially rats, are used extensively as model organisms to decipher the functions of specific amygdala nuclei, in particular in relation to fear and emotional learning. Analysis of the role of the nonhuman primate amygdala in these functions has lagged work in the rodent but provides...

Université de Fribourg

Postmortem changes in the neuroanatomical characteristics of the primate brain: Hippocampal formation

Lavenex, Pierre ; Lavenex, Pamela Banta ; Bennett, Jeffrey L. ; Amaral, David G.

In: The Journal of Comparative Neurology, 2009, vol. 512, no. 1, p. 27 - 51

Comparative studies of the structural organization of the brain are fundamental to our understanding of human brain function. However, whereas brains of experimental animals are fixed by perfusion of a fixative through the vasculature, human or ape brains are fixed by immersion after varying postmortem intervals. Although differential treatments might affect the fundamental characteristics of the...