Retrosplenial cortex in the rhesus monkey: a cytoarchitectonic and Golgi study

The laminar and cellular structure of retrosplenial cortex in the rhesus monkey was studied with Nissl stained and rapid Golgi impregnated tissue and the results were used to evaluate morphological features of a cortical transition zone. The granular layer of retrosplenial granular cortex is composed primarily of small, density packed, star pyramidal cells. These cells branch within the granular layer itself, while the apical dendrite enters layer I where it branches infrequently or not at all. This cell type is similar to the star pyramid first described by Lorente de No except in its areal and laminar distribution. Cytoarchitectonic observations of retrosplenial agranular cortex show, that, although this area is relatively "agranular" in comparison to other cortical areas, it does possess an incipient layer II and layer IV. These layers are composed mainly of small and medium sized pyramidal cells, but many non-pyramidal cell types were found in these and other layers in this area in rapid Golgi preparations. Stellate cells with beaded or smooth, lightly spinous dendrites were found throughout layer I-IV, while fusiform cells with smooth or very lightly spinous dendrites appear in layers III-VI. Areas surrounding retrosplenial cortex in the posterior cingulate region were also evaluated in Nissl and Golgi preparations including the indusium griseum, subiculum (dorsal to the corpus callosum) and area 23. The laminar and cellular constitutents of retrosplenial cortex were then evaluated in the context of cortical architectonic transition. The transition from one cellular layer in the indusium griseum to five cellular layers in area 23 is made by the addition of layers II, III, IV and VI in retrosplenial cortex to the one ganglionic layer of the indusium griseum and subiculum. Besides the addition and subdivision of layers in retrosplenial cortex, two aspects of cell morphology were found to change in this region. First, the structure of pyramidal cells progressively changes from those in the indusium griseum which have predominently round or oval somata and a preponderance of apical and few basal dendrites to those in layer V of retrosplenial cortex and area 23 which have pyramidal shaped somata and a great number of basal dendrites which branch frequently and spread horizontally for hundreds of microns. Second, there is a change in the number and distribution of non-pyramidal cell types. Evidence was not found that the indusium griseum, dorsal subiculum or layer V of retrosplenial granular cortex contain a significant number of stellate or fusiform cells. At the retrosplenial granular/agranular border, though, these cells gradually begin to constitute a greater proportion of the cell population and in area 23 form a major component of layer IV...