Optic lobe commissures in a three-dimensional brain model of the cockroach Leucophaea maderae: a search for the circadian coupling pathways.

The circadian rhythm of locomotor activity in the cockroach Leucophaea maderae is controlled by bilaterally symmetric, apparently directly coupled, circadian pacemakers in the optic lobes. Strong evidence predicts that ventromedial to the medulla, the accessory medulla with associated pigment-dispersing hormone-immunoreactive neurons is this circadian clock. In search for direct coupling pathways between both clocks, we performed horseradish peroxidase backfills from one optic stalk as well as dextran and horseradish peroxidase injections into one accessory medulla. Seven commissures with projections in the contralateral optic lobe were identified and reconstructed. Three of these commissures connected both accessory medullae. Two of these resembled the arborization pattern of the pigment-dispersing hormone-immunoreactive neurons, which are circadian pacemaker candidates in insects. This finding suggests that some of these pacemaker candidates form a direct circadian coupling pathway. For better visualization of reconstructed commissures, we implemented the reconstructions into a three-dimensional model of the cockroach brain. Copyright 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.