Intermediate nucleus of lateral lemniscus

Nucleus intermedius lemnisci lateralis

Definition

Intermediate nucleus of lateral lemniscus also has little spontaneous activity and broad tuning curves. The temporal responses are significantly different from cells of the anterior nucleus of lateral lemniscus.

This structure is greatly hypertrophied in the rat, forming a prominent bulge on the surface of the brainstem. GAD, GABA, and Glycine staining reveals several distinct regions that are not evident in standard cytoarchitectural preparations. A modest number of GABA-stained neurons are arranged in small groups, generally in the center of the nucleus, whereas glycine-stained neurons are more common and widely dispersed, with regional concentrations in the dorsolateral and ventrolateral portions of the nucleus. Most GABA+ cells are gly+ as well.

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