The structural organization of layer IV in the somatosensory region (SI) of mouse cerebral cortex. The description of a cortical field composed of discrete cytoarchitectonic units.

This article traces the author's personal history in neuroanatomical studies of the cerebral cortex including his father's pioneering studies using electrophysiology and early neuroanatomical methods. By providing the background context for the observations reported in the original heavily cited Brain Research article, the author describes how his methods of investigation with celloidin embedded material prepared with the Golgi method and Nissl staining revealed for the first time the “barrel fields” of the mouse cerebral cortex that are activated by stimulation of the facial vibrissae (whiskers). The original article reviewed the series of studies published on the murine cortical field in what later was termed a Brain Research Review. Those original observations opened an entire field of cortical organization and function that has remained an active and fertile field of neuroscience investigation.