Abstract
The dentate gyrus of the hippocampal formation may serve as a key area regulating cortical input to the limbic system. Cortical inputs converge at the entorhinal cortex which sends a massive excitatory projection to the granule cells of the dentate gyrus (Anderson, 1975). Pyramidal cells which receive a much sparser input rarely, if ever, fire. In the operation of hippocampal circuitry, cortical inputs drive granule cells which stimulate CA3 pyramidal cells which in turn diverge and project to other parts of the hippocampus, and ultimately to various limbic system nuclei. Inputs converge at the entorhinal cortex and diverge after the dentate gyrus. It is at the dentate gyrus where the pathway is unbranched, and where the first opportunity exists to regulate the flow of cortical information into the limbic system. In systems as diverse as complex engineering functions and metabolic pathways, the initial unbranched point in the system is usually the key regulatory point. Thus it might be that the transfer of information through the dentate gyrus is finely regulated.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
ALTMAN, J. and ANDERSON, W.J. (1972). Experimental reorganization of the cerebellar cortex. I. Morphological effects of elimi- nation of all microneurons with prolonged X-irradiation started at birth. J. Comp. Neurol. 145: 335–406.
ALTMAN, J. and BAYER, S. (1975). Postnatal Development of the Hippocampal Dentate Gyrus under Normal and Experimental Conditions, in: The Hippocampus, Vol. 1 ( R.L. Isaacson and K.H. Pribram, eds.), pp. 95–122, Plenum Press, New York.
ANDERSON, P. (1975). Organization of Hippocampal Neurons and their Interconnections, in: The Hippocampus, Vol. 1 (R.L. Isaacson 5 K.H. Pribram, eds.), pp. 155–175, Plenum Press, New York.
ANGEVINE, J.B. (1975). Development of the Hippocampal Region, in: The Hippocampus, Vol. 1 (R.L. Isaacson 5 K.H. Pribram, eds.), pp. 61–94, Plenum Press, New York.
BLACKSTAD, T.W. (1956). Commissural connections of the hippocampal region in the rat, with special reference to their mode of termination. J. Comp. Neurol. 105: 417–537
BLACKSTAD, T.W. (1958). On the termination of some afferents to the hippocampus and fascia dentata: an experimental study in the rat. Acta Anat. ( Basel ) 35: 202–214.
BLACK, T.W. (1967). Cortical Grey Matter–a correlation of light and electron microscopic data, in: The Neuron ( H. Hyden, ed.), pp. 49–118, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
COTMAN, C.W. and LYNCH, G.S. (1976). Reactive synaptogenesis in the adult nervous system: The effects of partial deafferentiation on new synapse formation, in: Neuronal Recognition ( S. Barondes, ed.), pp. 69–108, Plenum Press, New York.
COTMAN, C.W., MATTHEWS, D.A., TAYLOR, D. and LYNCH, G. (1973). Synaptic rearrangement in the dentate gyrus: Histochemical evidence of adjustments after lesions in immature and adult rats. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 70: 3473–3477
CRAIN, B., COTMAN, C., TAYLOR, D. and LYNCH, G. (1973). A quantitative electron microscopic study of synaptogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the rat. Brain Res. 63: 195–204.
GOLDOWITZ, D., WHITE, W.F., STEWARD, O., COTMAN, C. 6 LYNCH, G. (1975). Anatomical evidence for a projection from the entorhinal cortex to the contralateral dentate gyrus of the rat. Exp. Neurol. 47: 433–441.
GOTTLIEB, D.I. and COWAN, W.M. (1973). Autoradiographic studies of the commissural and ipsilateral association connection of the hippocampus and dentanate gyrus of the rat. I. The commissural connections. J. Comp. Neurol. 149: 393–422.
HAUG, FTM.S. (1973). Heavy metals in the brain. A light microscopic study of the rat with Timm’s sulfide silver method. Methodo- logical considerations and cytological and regional staining patterns. Ergebn Anat. Entwickl-Gesch 47: 1–71
HJORTH-SIMONSEN, A. (1972). Projection of the lateral part of the entorhinal area to the hippocampus and fascia dentata. J. Comp. Neurol. 146: 219–232.
HJORTH-SIMONSEN, A. 6 JEUNE, B. (1972). Origin and termination of the hippocampal perforant path in the rat studied by silver impregnation. J. Comp. Neurol. 144: 215–232.
LAUDER, J. (1977). Effects of altered thyroid state on the develop- ment of the rat cerebellar cortex, in: Thyroid Hormones and Brain Development ( G. Grave, ed.), Raven Press, New York
LAUDER, J. 6 MUGNAINI, E. (1977). Early hyperthyroidism alters the distribution of mossy fibers in the rat hippocampus. Nature, manuscript submitted.
LOY, R., LYNCH, G. 6 COTMAN, C.W. (1977). Development of afferent lamination in the fascia dentata of the rat, Brain Res, 121: 229–243.
LYNCH, G.S., MOSKO, S., PARKS, T. 6 COTMAN, C.W. (1973). Relocation and hyperdevelopment of the dentate gyrus commissural system after entorhinal lesions in immature rats. Brain Res, 50: 174–178.
LYNCH, G. 6 COTMAN, C.W. (1975). The hippocampus as a Model for studying anatomical plasticity in the adult brain, in: The Hippocampus, Vol. 1 ( R.L. Isaacson and K.H. Pribram, eds.), pp. 123–154, Plenum Press, New York.
MATTHEWS, D.A., COTMAN, C. 8 LYNCH, G. (1976). An electron microscopic study of lesion-induced synaptogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the adult rat. I. Magnitude and time course of degeneration. Brain Res. 115: 1–21.
MELLGREN, S.I. and SREBRO, B. (1973). Changes in acetylcholinesterase and distribution of degenerating fibres in the hippocampal region after septal lesions in the rat. Brain Res, 52: 19–36.
MOORE, R.Y. (1975). Monoamine neurons innervating the hippocampal formation and septum: organization and response to injury, in: The Hippocampus, Vol. 1 (R.L. Isaacson 6 K.H. Pribram, eds.), pp. 215–237, Plenum Press, New York.
MOORE, R.Y. and HALARIS, A.E. (1975). Hippocampal innervation by serotonin neurons of the midbrain raphe in the rat. J. Comp. Neurol. 164: 171–183.
MOSKO, S., LYNCH, G. 6 COTMAN, C.W. (1973). The distribution of septal projections to the hippocampus of the rat. J. Comp. Neurol. 152: 163–174.
NADLER, J.V., COTMAN, C.W., PAOLETTI, C. and LYNCH, G.S. (1977). Histochemical evidence of altered development of cholinergic fibers in the rat dentate gyrus following lesions. II.Effects of partial entorhinal and simultaneous multiple lesions. J. Comp. Neurol. 171: 589–604.
RAISMAN, G., COWAN, W.M. 6 POWELL, T.P. (1965). The extrinsic afferent, commissural and association fibers of the hippo-campus. Brain 88: 963–996
RAKIC, P. (1972). Mode of cell migration to the superficial layers of fetal monkey neocortex, J. Comp. Neurol. 145: 61–83.
RAMON Y CAJAL, S. (1968). The Structures of Ammon’s Horn (LM. Kraft, trans), C.C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois.
SCHLESSINGER, A.R., COWAN, W.M. and GOTTLIEB, D.I. (1975). An auto-radiographic study of the time of origin and the pattern of granule cell migration in the dentate gyrus of the rat, J. Comp. Neurol. 159: 149–175.
SEGAL, M. and LANDIS, S. (1974). Afferents to the hippocampus of the rat studied with the method of retrograde transport of horseradish peroxidase. Brain Res. 78: 1–15.
STEWARD, O., COTMAN, C.W. and LYNCH, G.S. (1973). Re-establishment of electrophysiologically functional entorhinal cortical input to the dentate gyrus deafferented by ipsilateral entorhinal lesions: innervation by the contralateral entorhinal cortex, Exp. Brain Res. 18: 396–414.
STEWARD, O. (1976). Topographical organization of the projections from the entorhinal area to the hippocampal formation of the rat. J. Comp. Neurol. 167: 285–314.
ZIMMER, J. (1971). Ipsilateral afferents to the commissural zone of the fascia dentata, demonstrated in decommissurated rats by silver impregnation. J. Comp. Neurol. 142: 393–416.
ZIMMER, J. (1973). Extended commissural and ipsilateral projections in postnatally deentorhinated hippocampus and fascia dentata demonstrated in rats by silver impregnation. Brain Res. 64: 293–311.
ZIMMER, J. (1973). Changes in the Timm sulfide silver staining pattern of the rat hippocampus and fascia dentata following early postnatal deafferentation. Brain Res. 64: 313–326.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1978 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Cotman, C.W. (1978). Synapse Formation and Plasticity in the Developing Dentate Gyrus. In: Livingston, K.E., Hornykiewicz, O. (eds) Limbic Mechanisms. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0716-8_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0716-8_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-0718-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-0716-8
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive