The Neural Connections of the Sensory Circumventricular Organs

If the subfornical organ, OVLT and area postrema function as sensors, an essential component for this function will be neural pathways linking these sensory sites to integrative and effector motor regions of the brain. Several neuroanatomical studies have mapped direct efferent connections of the sensory CVOs. These studies have utilised tracer molecules that are transported by axons from their sites of injection either in the anterograde or retrograde direction relative to neuronal cell bodies. Electrophysiological studies have also yielded data that are relevant to the neuronal connectivity of the sensory CVOs.