Inventory and distribution of synapses of identified uniglomerular projection neurons in the antennal lobe of Periplaneta americana.

Uniglomerular projection neurons in the antennal lobe of Periplaneta americana, the axons of which connect the lobe to the protocerebrum, were labeled by intracellular injection of Lucifer Yellow or biocytin. The fine structure of individual neurons within the antennal lobe was examined after the injected substances had been converted (by immunohistochemical or histochemical treatment) to electron microscopically visible reaction products. Seven projection neurons were investigated, including attractant neurons, with dendritic arbors in the macroglomerulus, and projection neurons of normal-sized glomeruli. From reconstructions of thin serial sections and examination of additional processes present at various places in the arborization regions, the distribution of synapses within the glomeruli was inferred. Although the projection neurons differ from one another in their glomerular arborization patterns, they are very similar in the spatial segregation of their input and output synapses within the arborization. Output synapses are found on the thick part of the fiber near its site of entry into the glomerulus, as well as in regions within the glomerulus where the neuron has begun to ramify into thinner fibers. In the latter regions, the many output synapses are accompanied by occasional input synapses; hence these are regarded as transitional regions. At the terminal arbors only input synapses were found. This suggests that neurons with dense terminal arborizations receive particularly numerous inputs in these regions. The large number of input synapses reflects the high degree of convergence of afferents onto projection neurons previously demonstrated physiologically. However, the presence of numerous output synapses indicates that projection neurons not only transport sensory information into the protocerebrum but are also a major component of the neuronal circuitry within the antennal lobe.