The bilaminar and banded distribution of the callosal terminals in the posterior neocortex of the rat

Abstract

After callosal sectioning, the callosal connections of the posterior neocortex of the rat cerebral hemisphere were demonstrated using the Fink-Heimer technique. Serial frozen sections of the whole brains were cut in transverse, horizontal, and tangential planes. In tissue sections, degenerating terminals were concentrated in two distinct laminae within the depth of the cortex. In addition the terminals had a patchy distribution. The degeneration was marked on projection drawings of serially arranged sections, and subsequent reconstruction showed the terminal degeneration to be distributed in bands. Five dorsoventrally oriented bands of terminals were present in areas 39, 41 and 36 collectively, and a rostrocaudal band in area 20. In area 17 terminations were apparently absent except at its borders with areas 18, 18a and 7. The degenerating callosal terminals within these areas produced a circumferential band around area 17. The findings are discussed with respect to the significance of these patterns of corticocortical connections.