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Previous studies have shown that retinal input plays an important role in the development of interhemispheric callosal connections, but little is known about the role retinal input plays on the development of ipsilateral striate-extrastriate connections and the interplay that might exist between developing ipsilateral and callosal pathways. We analyzed the effects of bilateral enucleation performed at different ages on both the distribution of extrastriate projections originating from restricted loci in medial, acallosal striate cortex, and the overall pattern of callosal connections revealed following multiple tracer injections. As in normal rats, striate-extrastriate projections in rats enucleated at birth consisted of multiple, well-defined fields that were largely confined to acallosal regions throughout extrastriate cortex. However, these projections were highly irregular and variable, and they tended to occupy correspondingly anomalous and variable acallosal regions. Moreover, area 17, but not area 18a, was smaller in enucleates compared to controls, resulting in an increase in the divergence of striate projections. Anomalies in patterns of striate-extrastriate projections were not observed in rats enucleated at postnatal day (P)6, although the size of area 17 was still reduced in these rats. These results indicate that the critical period during which the eyes influence the development of striate-extrastriate, but not the size of striate cortex, ends by P6. Finally, enucleation did not change the time course and definition of the initial invasion of axons into gray matter, suggesting that highly variable striate projections patterns do not result from anomalous pruning of exuberant distributions of 17-18a fibers in gray matter. J. Comp. Neurol., 520:3256-3276, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retrosplenial cortex consists of areas 29a–d, each of which has different connections with other cortical and subcortical regions. Although these areas also make complex interconnections that constitute part of a neural circuit subserving various functions, such as spatial memory and navigation, the details of such interconnections have not been studied comprehensively. In the study reported here, we investigated the organization of associational and commissural connections of areas 29a–d within the retrosplenial cortex in the rat, using the retrograde tracer cholera toxin B subunit and anterograde tracer biotinylated dextran amine. The results demonstrated that each of these areas has a distinct set of interconnections within the retrosplenial cortex. Each area interconnects strongly along the transverse axis of the retrosplenial cortex: area 29a, area 29b, caudal area 29c, and caudal area 29d connect with each other, and rostral area 29c and rostral area 29d connect with each other. In the longitudinal direction, rostral-to-caudal projections from rostral areas 29c and 29d to areas 29a and 29b and caudal areas 29c and 29d are strong, whereas reciprocal caudal-to-rostral projections are relatively weak. Although most of the intrinsic connections are homotopical, contralateral connections are weaker and less extensive than ipsilateral connections. These findings suggest that each retrosplenial area may not only process specific information somewhat independently but that it may also integrate and transmit such information through intrinsic connections to other areas in order to achieve retrosplenial cortical functions, such as spatial memory and learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The retrosplenial cortex (areas 29a–29d) has been implicated in spatial memory, which is essential for performing spatial behavior. Despite this link with behavior, neural connections between areas 29a–29d and frontal association and motor cortices—areas also essential for spatial behavior—have been analyzed only to a limited extent. Here, we report an analysis of the anatomical organization of projections from areas 29a–29d to area 24 and motor and prefrontal cortices in the rat, using the axonal transport of biotinylated dextran amine (BDA) and cholera toxin B subunit (CTb). Area 29a projects to rostral area 24a, whereas area 29b projects to caudodorsal area 24a and ventral area 24b. Caudal area 29c projects to mid-rostrocaudal area 24b, whereas rostral area 29c projects to caudal areas 24a and 24b and caudal parts of primary and secondary motor areas. Caudal area 29d projects to mid-rostrocaudal areas 24a and 24b, whereas rostral area 29d projects to the caudalmost parts of areas 24a and 24b and the secondary motor area and to the mid-rostrocaudal part of the primary motor area. Area 29d also projects weakly to the prefrontal cortex. These differential corticocortical projections may constitute important pathways that transmit spatial information to particular frontal cortical regions, enabling an animal to accomplish spatial behavior. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The origin and laminar arrangement of the homolateral and callosal projections to the anterior (AAF), primary (AI), posterior (PAF) and secondary (AII) auditory cortical areas were studied in the cat by means of electrophysiological recording and WGA-HRP tracing techniques. The transcallosal projections to AAF, AI, PAF and AII were principally homotypic since the major source of input was their corresponding area in the contralateral cortex. Heterotypic transcallosal projections to AAF and AI were seen, originating from the contralateral AI and AAF, respectively. PAF received heterotypic commissural projections from the opposite ventroposterior auditory cortical field (VPAF). Heterotypic callosal inputs to AII were rare, originating from AAF and AI. The neurons of origin of the transcallosal connections were located mainly in layers II and III (70-92%), and less frequently in deep layers (V and VI, 8-30%). Single unit recordings provided evidence that both homotypic and heterotypic transcallosal projections connect corresponding frequency regions of the two hemispheres. The regional distribution of the anterogradely labeled terminals indicated that the homotypic and heterotypic auditory transcallosal projections are reciprocal. The present data suggest that the transcallosal auditory interconnections are segregated in 3 major parallel components (AAF-AI, PAF-VPAF and AII), maintaining a segregation between parallel functional channels already established for the thalamocortical auditory interconnections. For the intrahemispheric connections, the analysis of the retrograde tracing data revealed that AAF and AI receive projections from the homolateral cortical areas PAF, VPAF and AII, whose neurons of origin were located mainly in their deep (V and VI) cortical layers. The reciprocal interconnections between the homolateral AAF and AI did not show a preferential laminar arrangement since the neurons of origin were distributed almost evenly in both superficial (II and III) and deep (V and VI) cortical layers. On the contrary, PAF received inputs from the homolateral cortical fields AAF, AI, AII and VPAF, originating predominantly from their superficial (II and III) layers. The homolateral projections reaching AII originated mainly from the superficial layers of AAF and AI, but from the deep layers of VPAF and PAF. The laminar distribution of anterogradely labeled terminal fields, when they were dense enough for a confident identification, was systematically related to the laminar arrangement of neurons of origin of the reciprocal projection: a projection originating from deep layers was associated with a reciprocal projection terminating mainly in layer IV, whereas a projection originating from superficial layers was associated with a reciprocal projection terminating predominantly outside layer IV. This laminar distribution indicates that the homolateral auditory cortical interconnections have a feed-forward/feed-back organization, corresponding to a hierarchical arrangement of the auditory cortical areas, according to criteria previously established in the visual system of primates. The principal auditory cortical areas could be ranked into 4 distinct hierarchical levels. The tonotopically organized areas AAF and AI represent the lowest level. The second level corresponds to the non-tonotopically organized area AII. Higher, the tonotopically organized areas VPAF and PAF occupy the third and fourth hierarchical levels, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]