Von Economo neurons are present in the dorsolateral (dysgranular) prefrontal cortex of humans.
Von Economo neurons (VENs), also known as spindle cells, have been described in layer V of the anterior cingulate (BA 24) and frontoinsular cortex (FI) of humans and other great apes. In the present study we used immunohistochemistry against two specific neuronal markers (NeuN and MAP2) in order to establish the presence of these cell types in Brodmann area 9 (BA 9) of the human prefrontal cortex. We evaluated tissue samples of eight human postmortem brains (age range 26-50) from BAs 9, 24, 4, 46, 45, 10 and 17. We identified a group of cells with similar morphology to that previously described for VENs in all specimens of BA 9 examined, albeit less frequently than in BA 24. This is the first description of this cell type in a human brain area with well developed granular layers (BA 9).
Fajardo
C
C
Centro de Estudios Cerebrales, Facultad de Salud, Universidad del Valle, Cali, Valle, Colombia.
Escobar
M I
MI
Buriticá
E
E
Arteaga
G
G
Umbarila
J
J
Casanova
M F
MF
Pimienta
H
H
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000378:metabolism; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000166:cytology*
C489788:MAP2 protein, human; D008869:Microtubule-Associated Proteins; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase