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Perirhinal and postrhinal cortices of the rat: A review of the neuroanatomical literature and comparison with findings from the monkey brain
Author(s) -
Burwell Rebecca D.,
Witter Menno P.,
Amaral David G.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
hippocampus
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.767
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1098-1063
pISSN - 1050-9631
DOI - 10.1002/hipo.450050503
Subject(s) - neuroscience , perirhinal cortex , psychology , temporal lobe , epilepsy
This review is prompted by recent findings that the perirhinal and parahippocampal cortices in the monkey brain are important components of the medial temporal lobe memory system. Given the potential impor- tance of the comparable regions to memory function in the rat brain, it is surprising that so little is known about their neuroanatomy. In fact, there are no comprehensive studies of the borders, cytoarchitecture, or connec- tions of the cortical regions surrounding the posterior portion of the rhi- nal sulcus in the rat. This review is meant to summarize the current state of our knowledge regarding these regions in the rat brain. Based on exist- ing data and our own observations, a new terminology is introduced that retains the term perirhinal cortex for the rostral portion of the region and renames the caudal portion the postrhinal cortex. Issues of continuing un- certainty are highlighted, and information gleaned from the monkey liter- ature is used to predict what anatomical traits the rat perirhinal region might demonstrate upon further examination. To the extent possible with available data, the similarities and differences of the rat and monkey perirhi- nal, postrhinal, and parahippocampal regions are evaluated.