FEATURE ARTICLE NITRIC OXIDE-PRODUCING NEURONS IN THE NEOCORTEX - MORPHOLOGICAL AND FUNCTIONAL-RELATIONSHIP WITH INTRAPARENCHYMAL MICROVASCULATURE

Nitric oxide is a ubiquitous intercellular messenger involved in parti cular functions in the cardiovascular, immunological and nervous syste ms. In the cerebral cortex, nitric oxide is synthetized by endothelial cells and by a discrete population of neurons and glial cells express ing nitric oxide synthase. Nitric oxide of endothelial and neuronal or igin is involved in the regulation of cerebral blood flow. In this rev iew, we have tried to combine morphological data providing information on the chemical nature of nitric oxide synthase-containing neurons an d their arrangement, especially in relation to intracortical blood ves sels, with functional results suggesting the participation of these ne urons in the coupling between local cortical blood flow and synaptic a ctivity.