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Pneumatizationof the petrous apex was investigated in 226 subjects without middle ear disease by means of target imaging CT.The degree of pneumatization of all subjects was 32.7% (148/452 ears), but no difference in degree was revealed with distinction of bilateral ears or between sexes.In 148 ears with pneumatization of the petrous apex, a higher degree of pneumatization was found in larger mastoid cavities, suggesting that pneumatization of the petrous apex correlates with pnuematized air cells in other parts of the temporal bone. Pneumatization of all parts of the petrous apex was found in about 40% (58/148 ears), and of some parts in about 60% (90/148 ears).In the latter cases, pneumatized air cells were more often found in the lower portions of the CT slices than in the higher ones.These results indicate that pneumatization of the petrous apex must be taken into consideration in studies measuring the gas composition and volume of the middle ear.

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We recently reported that a neuronal population in the claustrum (CLA) identified under exposure to psychological stressors plays a key role in stress response processing. Upon stress exposure, the main inputs to the CLA come from the basolateral amygdala (BLA); however, the upstream brain regions that potentially regulate both the CLA and BLA during stressful experiences remain unclear. Here by combining activity-dependent viral retrograde labeling with whole brain imaging, we analyzed neurons projecting to the CLA and BLA activated by exposure to social defeat stress. The labeled CLA projecting neurons were mostly ipsilateral, excluding the prefrontal cortices, which had a distinctly labeled population in the contralateral hemisphere. Similarly, the labeled BLA projecting neurons were predominantly ipsilateral, aside from the BLA in the opposite hemisphere, which also had a notably labeled population. Moreover, we found co-labeled double-projecting single neurons in multiple brain regions such as the ipsilateral ectorhinal/perirhinal cortex, entorhinal cortex, and the contralateral BLA. These results suggest that the CLA and BLA receive inputs from neuron collaterals in various brain regions during stress, which may regulate the CLA and BLA forming in a stress response circuitry.