Evidence for a direct projection from the superior temporal gyrus to the entorhinal cortex in the monkey

Abstract

During the course of a larger study of the afferent and efferent connections of the entorhinal cortex in the macaque monkey we have found evidence for a hitherto undescribed projection to the entorhinal cortex from the superior temporal gyrus. The evidence is derived principally from experiments in which small volumes of wheat germ agglutinin-conjugated horseradish peroxidase (WGA-HRP) were injected into different parts of the entorhinal cortex, but has been confirmed by 3H-amino acid autoradiography. After WGA-HRP injections into the entorhinal cortex, retrogradely labeled neurons have been mainly in layer III, but also to some extent in layer VI, throughout much of the superior temporal gyrus. The projection appears to be topographically organized in the sense that the ventral insular cortex and the adjoining temporal operculum have been found to project to the periamygdaloid cortex and the lateral division of the entorhinal cortex; the convexity of the superior temporal gyrus and the cortex along the dorsal bank of the superior temporal gyrus project further caudally to the medial division of the entorhinal cortex; and the cortex surrounding the fundus of the superior temporal sulcus projects to the perirhinal cortex. Following an injection of 3H-amino acids into the convexity of the superior temporal gyrus, terminal labeling has been seen over layers I and II of the entorhinal cortex and over layer I in the most lateral portion of the presubiculum. While the distribution of retrogradely labeled cells in our WGA-HRP experiments encompasses several cytoarchitectonically distinguishable areas in the superior temporal gyrus, the most heavily labeled field appears to coincide with what Gross and his colleagues have termed the ‘superior temporal polysensory area’ on the dorsal bank of the superior temporal sulcus.