Figure 3

Photomicrographs of lesions of the AcbC Lesions of the AcbC: photomicrographs of sections ~1.2 mm anterior to bregma, stained with cresyl violet. (a) Sham-operated rat, low-magnification view, right hemisphere (medial to the left). LV, lateral ventricle; CPu, caudate/putamen; AcbSh, nucleus accumbens shell; AcbC, nucleus accumbens core; ac, anterior commissure. The box marks the area magnified in (b). (b) Sham-operated rat, high-magnification view. Cresyl violet is basic and stains for Nissl substance, primarily nucleic acids (DNA and RNA); it therefore stains cytoplasmic rough endoplasmic reticulum, nuclei, and nucleoli. Individual neuronal nuclei are visible (circles ~10 μm in diameter). (c) AcbC-lesioned rat, low-magnification view. Dotted lines show the approximate extent of the lesion. There is some tissue collapse within the lesion and the lateral ventricle is slightly expanded. The box marks the area magnified in (d). (d) AcbC-lesioned rat, high-magnification view. In the region of the lesion, neurons have been replaced by smaller, densely-staining cells, indicating gliosis. (e) Coronal diagram of the rat brain at the same anteroposterior level [83], with scale. The light grey box indicates approximately the region shown in (a) and (c); the dark grey box indicates approximately the region shown in (b) and (e).