The Receptor group led by Prof. Nicola Palomero-Gallagher at the C. & O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, and Forschungszentrum Jülich has mapped the cellular and neurotransmitter receptor organisation of the macaque cingulate cortex, a brain region involved in emotion, motivation, decision-making and motor control.
The study was recently published in Brain Structure and Function.
By combining cytoarchitectonic analysis with the mapping of 14 neurotransmitter receptor types, the team identified 28 distinct cortical areas and created a three-dimensional map of the macaque cingulate cortex. These areas belong to four principal regions: the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), posterior midcingulate cortex (pMCC), and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC).
One of the key findings addressed a long-standing question in macaque neuroanatomy concerning the identification and differentiation of cingulate cortical areas along the dorsal wall of the cingulate sulcus. By integrating multiple anatomical approaches with statistical analyses, the team provided new insights into the organisation of this anatomically complex region. Importantly, the findings also revealed that the macaque midcingulate cortex is not a single, molecularly uniform region. Instead, the anterior and posterior midcingulate cortices (aMCC and pMCC, respectively) exhibited markedly different neurotransmitter receptor density profiles, with the aMCC showing some of the highest and the pMCC some of the lowest receptor densities within the cingulate cortex.
The findings are integrated into the MEBRAINS Multilevel Macaque Brain Atlas on the EBRAINS platform, where researchers can access individual cortical areas alongside their receptor density data and surface- and volume-based maps. These openly available datasets provide a detailed reference for locating brain areas, relating neurochemical information to other brain data, and comparing findings across studies. They also support research into brain connectivity and similarities and differences between macaque and human brain organisation.
Author: Helen Mendes
Contact: press@ebrains.eu
Read the full study:
Receptor architecture shapes the regional organization of the macaque cingulate cortex
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