What is the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis?

摘要

What exactly is this bed nucleus of the stria terminalis? This is a question that I, and possibly all of my colleague neuroscientists with interest in this region of the brain, get on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the simplest questions are often the most difficult to answer.Firstly, what's in a name? Researchers have failed to reach consensus on whether "BST" or "BNST" is the most effective acronym for their structure of interest. It seems there is little hope for clarification, as there is no scientific or grammatical justification using which we might choose one or the other. To our chagrin, both will probably continue to be commonly used. A description of the BST [sic] should start by reporting that it is a cluster of about 12 nuclei surrounding the caudal part of the anterior commissure, deep in the cerebral hemispheres. The exact number of BST nuclei varies depending on the criteria used, which are, at the moment, mostly anatomical. This may change in the future with more precise and localized permanent or reversible lesion approaches.