Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices.

Lauer, Simon M; Schneeweiß, Undine; Ray, Saikat; Brecht, Michael

doi:10.3791/56992

Journal Article

DZNE-2020-06133

Visualization of Cortical Modules in Flattened Mammalian Cortices.

Lauer, S. M. ; Schneeweiß, U. ; Brecht, M.DZNE* ; Ray, S. (Corresponding author)

2018
JoVE124831 New Delhi

JoVE journal Neuroscience(131), 56992 (2018) [10.3791/56992]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: doi:10.3791/56992

Abstract: The cortex of mammalian brains is parcellated into distinct substructures or modules. Cortical modules typically lie parallel to the cortical sheet, and can be delineated by certain histochemical and immunohistochemical methods. In this study, we highlight a method to isolate the cortex from mammalian brains and flatten them to obtain sections parallel to the cortical sheet. We further highlight selected histochemical and immunohistochemical methods to process these flattened tangential sections to visualize cortical modules. In the somatosensory cortex of various mammals, we perform cytochrome oxidase histochemistry to reveal body maps or cortical modules representing different parts of the body of the animal. In the medial entorhinal cortex, an area where grid cells are generated, we utilize immunohistochemical methods to highlight modules of genetically determined neurons which are arranged in a grid-pattern in the cortical sheet across several species. Overall, we provide a framework to isolate and prepare layer-wise flattened cortical sections, and visualize cortical modules using histochemical and immunohistochemical methods in a wide variety of mammalian brains.

Keyword(s): Animals (MeSH) ; Cerebral Cortex: diagnostic imaging (MeSH) ; Male (MeSH) ; Mammals (MeSH) ; Somatosensory Cortex: physiology (MeSH)