Cerebral Cortex, Vol 8, 278-294, Copyright © 1998 by Oxford University Press
GN Elston and MG Rosa
We compared the morphological characteristics of layer III pyramidal
neurones in different visual areas of the occipitotemporal cortical
'stream', which processes information related to object recognition in the
visual field (including shape, colour and texture). Pyramidal cells were
intracellularly injected with Lucifer Yellow in cortical slices cut
tangential to the cortical layers, allowing quantitative comparisons of
dendritic field morphology, spine density and cell body size between the
blobs and interblobs of the primary visual area (V1), the interstripe
compartments of the second visual area (V2), the fourth visual area (V4)
and cytoarchitectonic area TEO. We found that the tangential dimension of
basal dendritic fields of layer III pyramidal neurones increases from
caudal to rostral visual areas in the occipitotemporal pathway, such that
TEO cells have, on average, dendritic fields spanning an area 5-6 times
larger than V1 cells. In addition, the data indicate that V1 cells located
within blobs have significantly larger dendritic fields than those of
interblob cells. Sholl analysis of dendritic fields demonstrated that
pyramidal cells in V4 and TEO are more complex (i.e. exhibit a larger
number of branches at comparable distances from the cell body) than cells
in V1 or V2. Moreover, this analysis demonstrated that the dendrites of
many cells in V1 cluster along specific axes, while this tendency is less
marked in extrastriate areas. Most notably, there is a relatively large
proportion of neurones with 'morphologically orientation-biased' dendritic
fields (i.e. branches tend to cluster along two diametrically opposed
directions from the cell body) in the interblobs in V1, as compared with
the blobs in V1 and extrastriate areas. Finally, counts of dendritic spines
along the length of basal dendrites revealed similar peak spine densities
in the blobs and the interblobs of V1 and in the V2 interstripes, but
markedly higher spine densities in V4 and TEO. Estimates of the number of
dendritic spines on the basal dendritic fields of layer III pyramidal cells
indicate that cells in V2 have on average twice as many spines as V1 cells,
that V4 cells have 3.8 times as many spines as V1 cells, and that TEO cells
have 7.5 times as many spines as V1 cells. These findings suggest the
possibility that the complex response properties of neurones in rostral
stations in the occipitotemporal pathway may, in part, be attributed to
their larger and more complex basal dendritic fields, and to the increase
in both number and density of spines on their basal dendrites.
ARTICLES
Morphological variation of layer III pyramidal neurones in the occipitotemporal pathway of the macaque monkey visual cortex
Vision, Touch and Hearing Research Centre, Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, The University of Queensland, Australia. G.Elston@vthrc.uq.edu.au
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  T. Takahata, Y. Komatsu, A. Watakabe, T. Hashikawa, S. Tochitani, and T. Yamamori Differential Expression Patterns of occ1-Related Genes in Adult Monkey Visual Cortex Cereb Cortex, August 1, 2009; 19(8): 1937 - 1951. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
K. Anderson, B. Bones, B. Robinson, C. Hass, H. Lee, K. Ford, T.-A. Roberts, and B. Jacobs The Morphology of Supragranular Pyramidal Neurons in the Human Insular Cortex: A Quantitative Golgi Study Cereb Cortex, January 6, 2009; (2009) bhn234v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. B. Eickhoff, C. Rottschy, M. Kujovic, N. Palomero-Gallagher, and K. Zilles Organizational Principles of Human Visual Cortex Revealed by Receptor Mapping Cereb Cortex, November 1, 2008; 18(11): 2637 - 2645. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. Escobar, T. Fares, and A. Stepanyants Structural Plasticity of Circuits in Cortical Neuropil J. Neurosci., August 20, 2008; 28(34): 8477 - 8488. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Gur and D. M. Snodderly Physiological differences between neurons in layer 2 and layer 3 of primary visual cortex (V1) of alert macaque monkeys J. Physiol., May 1, 2008; 586(9): 2293 - 2306. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. M. Palmer and M. G. P. Rosa Quantitative Analysis of the Corticocortical Projections to the Middle Temporal Area in the Marmoset Monkey: Evolutionary and Functional Implications Cereb Cortex, September 1, 2006; 16(9): 1361 - 1375. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. Tanigawa, Q. Wang, and I. Fujita Organization of Horizontal Axons in the Inferior Temporal Cortex and Primary Visual Cortex of the Macaque Monkey Cereb Cortex, December 1, 2005; 15(12): 1887 - 1899. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. N. Elston, R. Benavides-Piccione, and J. DeFelipe A Study of Pyramidal Cell Structure in the Cingulate Cortex of the Macaque Monkey with Comparative Notes on Inferotemporal and Primary Visual Cortex Cereb Cortex, January 1, 2005; 15(1): 64 - 73. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. N. Elston Cortex, Cognition and the Cell: New Insights into the Pyramidal Neuron and Prefrontal Function Cereb Cortex, November 1, 2003; 13(11): 1124 - 1138. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. N. Elston and K. S. Rockland The Pyramidal Cell of the Sensorimotor Cortex of the Macaque Monkey: Phenotypic Variation Cereb Cortex, October 1, 2002; 12(10): 1071 - 1078. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Y.-N. Jan and L. Y. Jan Dendrites Genes & Dev., October 15, 2001; 15(20): 2627 - 2641. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 P. J. Harrison The neuropathology of schizophrenia: A critical review of the data and their interpretation Brain, April 1, 1999; 122(4): 593 - 624. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. N. Elston Pyramidal Cells of the Frontal Lobe: All the More Spinous to Think With J. Neurosci., September 15, 2000; 20(18): RC95 - RC95. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. N. Elston and M. G. P. Rosa Pyramidal Cells, Patches, and Cortical Columns: a Comparative Study of Infragranular Neurons in TEO, TE, and the Superior Temporal Polysensory Area of the Macaque Monkey J. Neurosci., December 15, 2000; 20(24): RC117 - RC117. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. N. Elston, R. Benavides-Piccione, and J. DeFelipe The Pyramidal Cell in Cognition: A Comparative Study in Human and Monkey J. Neurosci., September 1, 2001; 21(17): RC163 - RC163. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|