Developmental dynamics of prepiriform cortex in prenatal human ontogenesis

Publication date: October 2018Source: Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, Volume 92Author(s): Anastasia. S. Kharlamova, Olga S. Godovalova, Olga I. Junemann, Sergei V. SavelievAbstractThe prepiriform cortex is a part of the phylogenetically oldest pallial division (paleocortex) representing the primary olfactory cortex. While olfactory centers in laboratory animals have been extensively investigated, the developmental timetable of the human prepiriform area is poorly understood. Thus, in the present study we aim to examine the prepiriform cortex in human fetuses from eight postconceptional weeks to birth. Based on cytoarchitecture and immunohistochemistry analysis (NeuN-, SYP-, NSE-, TH-, GFAP-, MBP-) four main periods of the prepiriform cortex fetal development are suggested: the beginning of prefetal stage (the eighth week from conception), the period from the ending of prefetal stage (9–12 postconceptional weeks) to 17 weeks of gestation, 18–27 weeks of gestation and the late fetal period (29–40 gestational weeks). We found that the initial layer differentiation took place before the ninthtenth weeks from conception and by ten weeks the paleocortical plate of the prepiriform cortex was shaped. Both total cell density and NeuN-immunoreactive cell density peaked in the early fetuses and started to decrease after 17 gestational weeks, attaining intermediate values at 18–27 weeks and becoming significantly lower in the late fetuses. In contrast, the NeuN-immunoreactive c...

Source: Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy - July 5, 2018 Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research