The Journal of comparative neurology
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The intercalated cell groups, or massa intercalata, of the amygdala have been studied in rodent brains with Golgi methods. They also have been examined in gallocyanin-chromalum-, AChE-, and Timm-stained rat brains. The Golgi data indicate that the intercalated cells are not confined to a series of isolated cell clumps but form a neuronal net that covers the rostral half of the lateral-basolateral nuclear complex, stretches across a major portion of rostral amygdala, and continues rostrally beneath the anterior commissure. ⋯ It is suggested that the intercalated cells serve as sites for integration of the output of these various areas and, in turn, communicate it to the lateral-basolateral and central amygdaloid nuclei. The intercalated cells closely resemble neurons in the corpus striatum. Thus the question is raised and discussed of whether the intercalated cells are a ventral extension of the corpus striatum.