Conserved size and periodicity of pyramidal patches in layer 2 of medial/caudal entorhinal cortex.

ABSTRACT: To understand the structural basis of grid cell activity, we compare medial entorhinal cortex architecture in layer 2 across five mammalian species (Etruscan shrews, mice, rats, Egyptian fruit bats, and humans), bridging ∼100 million years of evolutionary diversity. Principal neurons in layer 2 are divided into two distinct cell types, pyramidal and stellate, based on morphology, immunoreactivity, and functional properties. We confirm the existence of patches of calbindin-positive pyramidal cells across these species, arranged periodically according to analyses techniques like spatial autocorrelation, grid scores, and modifiable areal unit analysis. In rodents, which show sustained theta oscillations in entorhinal cortex, cholinergic innervation targeted calbindin patches. In bats and huma

SUBMITTER: Naumann RK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5014138 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature