A neuroanatomical study of cholinergic and aminergic systems innervating the amygdala, an important limbic structure for the pathogenesis of epilepsy, has been made by using the catecholamine fluorescence histochemistly or histochemical method for cholinergic systems in conjunction with the retrograde axonal transport techniques.
Dopaminergic amygdalopedal fibers were derived from mesencephalic dopamine cell groups; the dorsal part of of the pars compacta of the substantia nigra and the peripeduncular nucleus as well as dorsal part of the ventral tegmental area (Tsai). Cholinergic fibers in the amygdala were originated from a magnocellular group situated in the substantia innominata, which was identified to be a part of the basal nucleus (Meynert). Although cholinergic neurons in the substantia innominata also sent their axons to the cerebral cortex, it appeared that such neurons had no divergent projections to the amygdala.