Morphology and ontogeny of rat perirhinal cortical neurons.

Golgi-impregnated neurons from rat perirhinal cortex (PR) were classified into one of 15 distinct morphological categories (N = 6,891). The frequency of neurons in each cell class was determined as a function of the layer of PR and the age of the animal, which ranged from postnatal day 0 (P0) to young adulthood (P45). The developmental appearance of Golgi-impregnated neurons conformed to the expected "inside-out" pattern of development, meaning that cells populated in deep before superficial layers of PR. The relative frequencies of different cell types changed during the first 2 weeks of postnatal development. The largest cells, which were pyramidal and spiny multipolar neurons, appeared earliest. Aspiny stellate neurons were the last to appear. The total number of Golgi-impregnated neurons peaked at P10-12, corresponding to the time of eye-opening. This early increase in the number of impregnated neurons parallels observations in other cortical areas. The relative frequency of the 15 cell types remained constant between P14 to P45. The proportion of pyramidal neurons in PR ( approximately 50%) was much smaller than is typical of neocortex ( approximately 70%). A correspondingly larger proportion of PR neurons were nonpyramidal cells that are less common in neocortex. The relative frequency distribution of cell types creates an overall impression of considerable morphological diversity, which is arguably related to the particular manner in which this periallocortical brain region processes and stores information.