A comparison of neurotransmitter-specific and neuropeptide-specific neuronal cell types present in the dorsal cortex in turtles with those present in the isocortex in mammals: implications for the evolution of isocortex.

Although it seems highly likely that mammalian isocortex evolved from a structure resembling reptilian telencephalic cortex, it has been uncertain if this occurred by the laminar differentiation of three-layered reptilian cortex into six-layered mammalian isocortex without the addition of new cell types or by laminar differentiation with the addition of new cell types. To distinguish between these two possibilities, immunohistochemical techniques were used to study turtles to see if the same major neuronal cell types, as defined by neurotransmitter or neuropeptide content, present in mammalian isocortex are also present in the specific part of reptilian cortex thought to be the forerunner of at least parts of isocortex, namely the dorsal cortex. Neurons containing the following substances are the major transmitter-specific types of neurons known to be present in mammalian isocortex: cholecystokinin-8 (CCK8), vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), acetylcholine, substance P (SP), neuropeptide Y (NPY), somatostatin (SS), LANT6, enkephalin, GABA and glutamate (GLUT). In turtles, only those of the above substances that are found in large numbers of neurons in layers V-VI in mammalian isocortex, irrespective of whether they are also present in layers II-IV (i.e. SP, NPY, SS, LANT6, GABA and GLUT), were present in neurons in dorsal cortex. The neurons containing these substances in dorsal cortex in turtles were generally highly similar in morphology to their counterparts in mammalian isocortex. In contrast, neurons labeled for CCK8, VIP or acetylcholine, which are mainly found in neurons of layers II-IV of mammalian isocortex, were absent or extremely rare in dorsal cortex. The absence or paucity of neurons labeled for these latter substances in dorsal cortex in turtles did not reflect an overall staining failure of the antisera used since the same antisera yielded excellent labeling of neurons, fibers and terminals in many other brain regions in turtles. Thus, dorsal cortex in turtles appears to lack several of the major cell types characteristic of layers II-IV of mammalian isocortex, but possesses a number of the major cell types characteristic of layers V-VI of isocortex. The findings support and extend a previous suggestion by Ebner [1976], based on hodological data, that dorsal cortex in turtles may lack the types of neurons found in the more superficial layers of mammalian isocortex.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)