Habenula

In neuroanatomy, habenula originally denoted the stalk of the pineal gland , but gradually came to refer to a neighboring group of nerve cells with which the pineal gland was believed to be associated, the habenular nucleus. Currently, the Terminologia Anatomica term refers exclusively to this separate cell mass in the caudal and dorsal aspect of the dorsal thalamus, the epithalamus, embedded in the posterior end of the medullary stria from which it receives most of its afferent fibers. By way of the retroflex fasciculus it projects to the interpeduncular nucleus and other paramedian cell groups of the midbrain tegmentum. Despite its proximity to the pineal stalk, no connecting tissue is known to exist.The habenula is involved in receiving input from the brain via the stria medullaris thalami and output to many midbrain areas involved in releasing personality-related neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin The habenula is the only nucleus of the epithalamus. (From the Wikpedia article Habenula.)

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Recent Publications on Habenula:
Brn3a and Nurr1 mediate a gene regulatory pathway for habenula development. The habenula is a dorsal diencephalic structure consisting of medial and...	13th November, 2009	Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla,	J Neurosci. 2009 Nov 11;29(45):14309-22. DOI Direct Link
Reinforcement learning, conditioning, and the brain: Successes and challenges. The field of reinforcement learning has greatly influenced the...	10th November, 2009	Columbia University,	Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2009 Dec;9(4):343-64. DOI Direct Link
Coincidence of neurokinin 1 receptor with the vesicular glutamate transporter 3 (VGLUT3) in the rat forebrain. The third vesicular glutamate transporter (VGLUT3) is expressed in a...	10th November, 2009	Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Children's	Neurosci Lett. 2009 Oct 30;464(3):188-92. Epub 2009 Aug 21. DOI Direct Link
In vitro and in vivo comparison of two non-peptide tachykinin NK(3) receptor antagonists: Improvements in efficacy achieved through enhanced brain penetration or altered pharmacological characteristics. Clinical evaluation of tachykinin NK(3) receptor antagonists has provided...	3rd November, 2009	Neurosciences Centre of Excellence for Drug Discovery, GlaxoSmithKline,	Eur J Pharmacol. 2009 Oct 30. DOI Direct Link
Remission of Major Depression Under Deep Brain Stimulation of the Lateral Habenula in a Therapy-Refractory Patient. Clinical evaluation of tachykinin NK(3) receptor antagonists has provided...	23rd October, 2009	Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental	Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Oct 19. DOI Direct Link
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Habenula Patents:
US Patent No.	Title
6709866	Methods for enhancing survival of a neuron
6987005	DNA encoding SNORF33 receptor
6992077	Spirocyclic ligands for sigma receptors, and libraries and methods of use thereof
6994856	ErbB4 receptor-specific neuregulin related ligands and uses therefor
6998472	Obesity gene
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