Development of the endopiriform nucleus and the claustrum in the rat brain

Long-survival [3H]thymidine autoradiography was used to quantitatively determine the time of origin of neurons in the endopiriform nucleus and the claustrum in rats killed on postnatal day 60 after their dams received two consecutive daily injections of [3H]thymidine on embryonic day E13 and E14, E14 and E15, ... E21 and E22. The claustrum originates late, on E15 and E16, and has a strong gradient in the longitudinal direction, posterior (older) to anterior (younger). In contrast, the endopiriform nucleus originates early, on E14 and E15, and lacks a longitudinal gradient but has a strong one in the vertical direction, ventral (older) to dorsal (younger). Sequential-survival [3H]thymidine autoradiography was used to qualitatively determine the germinal sources and settling sites of endopiriform and claustral neurons in embryonic rats. The dams received a single injection of [3H]thymidine on either E14 (to heavily label older endopiriform neurons) or E16 (to heavily label younger claustral neurons) and were killed in sequential 24-h intervals. Neurons in the presumptive endopiriform nucleus settle within two to three days after their peak time of neurogenesis while those in the presumptive claustrum take approximately five days to settle after their peak. It is postulated that endopiriform neurons are generated in the palliostriatal ventricular angle, the neuroepithelium that forms a wedge between the primordia of the neocortex and the basal ganglia, and that claustral neurons are generated in the neocortical neuroepithelium. Divergent developmental patterns between the endopiriform nucleus and the claustrum support the anatomical evidence that these nuclei have different connections. Furthermore, neurogenetic gradients in the claustrum correlate with the pattern of anatomical connections between the claustrum and the neocortex.