Callosal and prefrontal associational projecting cell populations in area 7A of the macaque monkey: a study using retrogradely transported fluorescent dyes

Abstract

The spatial interrelationship of neurons in area 7a in the inferior parietal lobule that project through the corpus callosum to the corresponding field in the contralateral hemisphere or to the ipsilateral prefrontal cortex has been analyzed in macaque monkeys by using double-labeling procedures with retrogradely transported fluorescent dyes. The populations of callosal and associational projecting neurons have similar laminar distributions and are topographically intermingled. Less than 1% of the neurons were double-labeled, thus suggesting that the two populations are largely separate. Two-dimensional reconstructions of the distribution of labeled cells made on flattened reconstructions of the inferior parietal lobule revealed that the areal distribution of the two cortico-cortical output arrays is complex. Although each pattern of labeling showed some discontinuities in density, there was no obvious periodicity within or between the spatial distributions of the two projecting populations. It was consistently observed that the cortex of the lateral wall of the intraparietal sulcus, adjacent to area 7a, projects more heavily to the prefrontal cortex than does area 7a itself.