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Expression of c-Fos, or other immediate early gene products, by individual neurons can be used as a marker of cell activation, making staining of these proteins an extremely useful technique for functional anatomical mapping of neuroendocrine systems. Because these proteins are located in the nucleus, identification of the phenotype of the activated neuron using substances located within the cytoplasm can be accomplished with standard double-labeling immunocytochemical techniques. Although it is clear that neurons have the capacity to express a number of immediate early gene products, what remains to be established is whether there is a different pattern of expression following various stimuli. In our studies, we focus primarily on expression of one immediate early gene product, the c-Fos protein. We also include some experiments using expression of other members of the Fos family and Jun proteins as …