Callosal neurons

The method described herein has been successfully used in our laboratory to label corrico-cortical associative pyramidal neurons in adult rats [33, 34] and mice [35]. We have also used the same technique to label the corrico-thalamic neurons of rats in a Golgi-like fashion [36]. The observation of pyramidal neurons in the hemisphere contralateral to the injected cortical site confirmed that callosal neurons display a complete filling of the dendritic tree, similar to what is observed for ipsilateral, associative neurons [33-35]. For the sake of clarity, we provide a detailed description only for the experimental protocol concerning the retrograde labeling of corrico-cortical associative projections in Wistar rats. The protocol can be easily extended and adapted to other species and/or projections. 

Barbaresi P, Fabri M, Conti F, Manzoni T (1987) d-[ H] Aspartate retrograde labeling of callosal and association neurones of somatosensory areas I and II of cats. J Comp Neurol 263 159-187. 

Alcamo EA, Chirivella L, Dautzenberg M et al (2008) Satb2 regulates callosal projection neuron identity in the developing cerebral cortex. Neuron 57 364—377... 

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