The Avian Brain Nomenclature Forum: Terminology for a New Century in Comparative Neuroanatomy.
Many of the assumptions of homology on which the standard nomenclature for the cell groups and fiber tracts of avian brains have been based are in error, and as a result that terminology promotes misunderstanding of the functional organization of avian brains and their evolutionary relationship to mammalian brains. Recognizing this problem, a number of avian brain researchers began an effort to revise the terminology, which culminated in the Avian Brain Nomenclature Forum, held at Duke University from July 18 to 20, 2002. In the new terminology approved at this Forum, the flawed conception that the telencephalon of birds consists nearly entirely of a hypertrophied basal ganglia has been purged from the telencephalic terminology, and the actual parts of the basal ganglia and its brainstem afferent cell groups have been given names reflecting their now evident homologies. The telencephalic regions that were erroneously named to reflect presumed homology to mammalian basal ganglia were renamed as parts of the pallium, using prefixes that retained most established abbreviations (to maintain continuity with the replaced nomenclature). Details of this meeting and its major conclusions are presented in this paper, and the details of the new terminology and its basis are presented in a longer companion paper. We urge all to use this new terminology, because we believe it will promote better communication among neuroscientists.
Reiner
Anton
A
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, Tennessee 38163.
Perkel
David J
DJ
Bruce
Laura L
LL
Butler
Ann B
AB
Csillag
András
A
Kuenzel
Wayne
W
Medina
Loreta
L
Paxinos
George
G
Shimizu
Toru
T
Striedter
Georg
G
Wild
Martin
M
Ball
Gregory F
GF
Durand
Sarah
S
Gütürkün
Onur
O
Lee
Diane W
DW
Mello
Claudio V
CV
Powers
Alice
A
White
Stephanie A
SA
Hough
Gerald
G
Kubikova
Lubica
L
Smulders
Tom V
TV
Wada
Kazuhiro
K
Dugas-Ford
Jennifer
J
Husband
Scott
S
Yamamoto
Keiko
K
Yu
Jing
J
Siang
Connie
C
Jarvis
Erich D
ED