Columnar aggregation of prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortical cells projecting to the thalamic mediodorsal nucleus in the monkey.

The columnar arrangement of the prefrontal and anterior cingulate cortex cells that project to the thalamic mediodorsal (MD) nucleus in rhesus and Formosan monkeys was studied by injecting horseradish peroxidase into the MD nucleus. Labelled cells appeared ipsilaterally in layers V and VI in the dorsolateral, medial, and orbital prefrontal cortex, and in layer VI in the anterior cingulate cortex. Labelled cells were aligned in the radially oriented cords of neurons and grouped into clusters, 25-200 microns wide, thus forming columns. Radial cellular cords with no labelled cells were interspersed between the labelled radial cords.