title: Spiny stellate neurones in layer VI of the rat cerebral cortex.
abstract: From 109 neurones labelled intracellularly in layer VIa of rat neocortical slices, four non-pyramidal, spiny stellate neurones were identified by their common morphological characteristics. They had a small cell body and densely spiny dendrites extending radially, but no dominant apical dendrite. The main axons ran briefly to the pial surface, and then made a characteristic U-turn to descend toward the white matter. In immunofluorescence cytochemistry, all the spiny stellate neurones were immunopositive for glutaminase but not for calcium-binding proteins, suggesting that they were glutamatergic. Electrophysiologically, they belonged to the regular spiking type and showed a small fast afterhyperpolarization. Thus, the spiny stellate neurones were considered to represent a unique group of excitatory neurones in layer VI of the cerebral cortex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Morphological Brain Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kaneko
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mizuno
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D064026:Calbindins; D048429:Cell Size; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D005972:Glutaminase / Q000032:analysis; D008239:Lysine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010320:Parvalbumins / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D064026:Calbindins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D010320:Parvalbumins; D064030:S100 Calcium Binding Protein G; D005972:Glutaminase; C013411:biocytin; D008239:Lysine