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The Minicolumn in Comparative Context

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Recent Advances on the Modular Organization of the Cortex

Abstract

The minicolumn has been defined as the smallest functional unit of the cortex with the widely-held view that there is a conservation of structure for this cortical processing unit. However, comparative data reveal significant differences among species in both the structure and composition of minicolumns. Here we review the available data on interspecific variation in minicolumn widths and the evidence in favor of phylogenetic variation in GABAergic interneurons, known to be a key component of the cortical microcircuit. Using data collated from the literature, we highlight the importance of variation in cortical column structure and build a framework towards further evolutionary explanations of minicolumn diversity. Although our preliminary analysis indicates that minicolumn width increases with increasing brain mass among anthropoid primates, this relationship is not constant when applied to other taxonomic orders. These findings highlight the need for further comparative analyses of minicolumn structure and their ecological, behavioral, and cognitive correlates.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Cheryl D. Stimpson for technical assistance. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation (BCS-0515484, BCS-0549117, BCS-0827531, BCS-0550209, BCS-0827546, DGE-0801634), the National Institutes of Health (NS042867), the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation (22002078).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy, Des Moines University, Des Moines, IA, 50312, USA

    Muhammad A. Spocter

  2. Department of Anthropology and School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH, 44242, USA

    Mary Ann Raghanti

  3. Fishberg Department of Neuroscience and Friedman Brain Institute, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Camilla Butti & Patrick R. Hof

  4. Department of Anthropology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Chet C. Sherwood

Authors
  1. Muhammad A. Spocter
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  2. Mary Ann Raghanti
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  3. Camilla Butti
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  4. Patrick R. Hof
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  5. Chet C. Sherwood
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Correspondence to Muhammad A. Spocter .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

    Manuel F. Casanova

  2. Dept. of Physiology & Pharmacology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA

    Ioan Opris

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Spocter, M.A., Raghanti, M.A., Butti, C., Hof, P.R., Sherwood, C.C. (2015). The Minicolumn in Comparative Context. In: Casanova, M., Opris, I. (eds) Recent Advances on the Modular Organization of the Cortex. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9900-3_5

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