DEVELOPMENT OF THE CEREBRAL-CORTEX IN THE PRIMATE

Understanding the development of the primate cerebral cortex is a fundamuntal challenge in neurobiology today. Using a variety of axonal tracers, we have investigated the establishment of neuronal circuits responsible for perceptual and cognitive functions. Our results show that the connectivity of the monkey cerebral cortex is established according to a developmental sequency very different to that found in non-primate species. Further, the adult pattern of connections is not found to invariably result from an initially widespread and diffuse pattern. The implications for the emergence of the neurobiological basis for cognitive function in man are discussed.