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.)

Download PDF containing detailed information.

Recent Publications on Habenula:
Remission of Major Depression Under Deep Brain Stimulation of the Lateral Habenula in a Therapy-Refractory Patient. BACKGROUND & AIMS: Gastric cancer is the second most common cause of...	23rd October, 2009	Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Central Institute of Mental	Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Oct 19. DOI Direct Link
Localization of relaxin-3 in brain of Macaca fascicularis: Identification of a nucleus incertus in primate. Relaxin-3 (RLN3) is a highly conserved, ancestral member of the...	22nd October, 2009	Florey Neuroscience Institutes, The University of Melbourne, Victoria	J Comp Neurol. 2009 Aug 13;517(6):856-872. DOI Direct Link
Metamorphic pitx2 expression in the left habenula correlated with lateralization of eye-sidedness in flounder. The bilateral symmetry of flounder larvae changes through the process of...	22nd October, 2009	Laboratory of Bioindustrial Informatics, Graduate School of Agricultural	Dev Growth Differ. 2009 Oct 15. DOI Direct Link
The effects of tryptophan depletion on neural responses to emotional words in remitted depression. BACKGROUND: Major depressive disorder (MDD) has been associated with both...	22nd October, 2009	Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 17 Queen	Biol Psychiatry. 2009 Sep 1;66(5):441-50. Epub 2009 Jun 17. DOI Direct Link
Mechanisms of directional asymmetry in the zebrafish epithalamus. The epithalamus of zebrafish presents the best-studied case of directional...	9th October, 2009	Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of	Semin Cell Dev Biol. 2009 Jun;20(4):498-509. DOI Direct Link
→View more research publications.

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
→View more patents.

BioPortfolio Ltd. offers e-mail and postal lists for Habenula scientists - we have details of around 112 individuals working on Habenula .