Atlas of estrogen-concentrating cells in the central nervous system of the squirrel monkey.

Estrogen is concentrated within cellular nuclei in discrete regions of the monkey brain 30 and 60 minutes following intravenous injection of [3H] estradiol. Chromatographic data is provided to suggest that most of the localized estrogen is in the form of estradiol with lesser amounts of estrone and estriol. Three "major" areas of estrogen accumulation include: (1) preopticostrial accumulation: n. preopticus medialis--n. interstitialis striae terminalis, (2) basal hypothalamic accumulation: n. infundibularis--n. ventromedialis--n. premammillaris ventralis, and (3) the amygdaloid accumulation. Several "minor" areas of estrogen accumulation include the tuberculum olfactorium, insulae Calleja, n. triangularis septi, a. hypothalamica anterior, n. anterior hypothalami, n. paraventricularis, n. supraopticus, n. periventricularis and the substantia grisea centralis. The neocortex, rhombencephalon and spinal cord are essentially unlabeled. The major areas of accumulation are similar in several other mammalian and avian species while these, and some minor areas of accumulation, have been shown in neuroanatomical studies to be interconnected by several pathways, especially the stria terminalis. Lesion, implant, stimulation, recording and morphometric studies, in several species, support the concept that this arrangement provides a neuroanatomical substrate which would allow the integration of the various facets of the neuroendocrine reproductive response.