Olfactory bulb projections in the bullfrog Rana catesbeiana

Abstract

The projections of the accessory and main olfactory bulbs of the bullfrog are described as part of a long term analysis of the morphological differences in amphibian and reptilian telencephalons. Unilateral aspiration of the accessory olfactory bulb results in an ipsilateral projection to the pars lateralis of the amygdala via the accessory olfactory tract. Degenerating fibers from the accessory olfactory bulb are tracable into the cell-free zone between the dorsal striatum and the lateral pallium, and projections to these neural populations may also exist. Unilateral lesions of the main olfactory bulb reveal two major secondary pathways: an ipsilateral medial olfactory tract that projects to the rostral ventromedial portion of the medial pallium, the postolfactory eminence and the rostral, lateral and medial septal nuclei; and an ipsilateral lateral olfactory tract that projects to the dorsal striatum, the lateral pallium and the ventral half of the dorsal pallium. Two crossed secondary olfactory pathways to the contralateral telencephalon decussate via the habenular commissure after entering the ipsilateral stria medullaris. A crossed lateral pathway terminates in the dorsal striatum, the caudal, lateral pallium and the ventral portion of the dorsal pallium. A crossed medial pathway terminates in the internal granule layer of the main olfactory bulb.