Summary
In 87 cells studied physiologically, and filled intracellularly with horseradish peroxidase (HRP), we have found four cells which make multiple contacts with the perikarya of their post-synaptic targets. These cells are all multipolar non-pyramidal neurones with elongated smooth dendrites. Three resemble the classical “basket cells” of Ramón y Cajal (1911), having widely distributed axons which contribute to the “nids pericellulaires” around pyramidal cell perikarya. The fourth cell has a much more restricted axon virtually confined to layer 4 and appears to contact principally small, probably nonpyramidal, cells. Two of the basket cell axons have been examined by electron microscopy and make symmetrical, Gray's type II contacts with the perikarya and apical and basal dendrites of pyramidal cells. Ten percent of the synapses are on dendrites of non-pyramidal cells.
The axon arborizations of all four cells are distributed in a patchy fashion. In two cells examined for the purpose, very few boutons were found within 100 μm. of the cell body and a radially aligned cylinder of the same diameter extending from the cell body to the pial surface. The physiological properties of these structurally similar cells are far from uniform. They can be activated mono- or polysynaptically, by X- or Y-type lateral geniculate input, and can have S or C type receptive fields. Two were activated, probably monosynaptically, via callosal afferents. These cells may play an important role in the inhibitory mechanisms of the cortex.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Benevento LA, Creutzfeldt OD, Kuhnt U (1972) Significance of intracortical inhibition in the visual cortex. Nature 238: 124–126
Bullier J, Henry GH (1979) Ordinal position of neurons in cat striate cortex. J Neurophysiol 42: 1251–1263
Colonnier ML (1966) The structural design of the neocortex. In: Eccles JC (ed) The brain and conscious experience. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg New York, pp 1–18
DeFelipe J, Fairén A (1982) A type of basket cell in superficial layers of the cat visual cortex. A golgi-electron microscope study. Brain Res 244: 9–16
Eccles JC (1981) The modular operation of the cerebral cortex considered as the material basis of mental events. Neuroscience 6: 1839–1856
Fairén A, Valverde F (1980) A specialized type of neuron in the visual cortex of cat: A Golgi and electron microscope study of chandelier cells. J Comp Neurol 194: 761–779
Gilbert CD, Wiesel TN (1979) Morphology and intra-cortical projections of functionally characterised neurones in the cat. visual cortex. Nature 280: 120–125
Hanker JS, Yates PE, Metz CB, Rustioni A (1977) A new specific sensitive and non-carcinogenic agent for the demonstration of horseradish peroxidase. Histochem J 9: 789–792
Harvey AR (1980) A physiological analysis of subcortical and commissural projections of areas 17 and 18 of the cat. J Physiol (Lond) 302: 507–534
Hubel DH, Wiesel TN (1962) Receptive fields, binocular interaction and functional architecture in the cat's visual cortex. J Physiol (Lond) 160: 106–154
Hubel DH, Wiesel TN (1963) Shape and arrangement of columns in cat's visual cortex. J Physiol (Lond) 165: 559–568
Hubel DH, Wiesel TN (1974) Sequence regularity and geometry of orientation columns hi the monkey striate cortex. J Comp Neurol 158: 267–294
Jones EG (1975) Varieties and distribution of non-pyramidal cells in the somatic sensory cortex of the squirrel monkey. J Comp Neurol 160: 205–268
Jones EG (1981) The anatomy of the cerebral cortex; Columnar input-output organisation. In: Schmitt FO, Worden FG, Adelman G (eds) The cerebral cortex. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, pp 199–235
Kratz KE, Webb SV, Sherman SM (1978) Electrophysiological classification of X- and Y-cells hi the cat's lateral geniculate nucleus. Vision Res 18: 1261–1264
Lin CS, Friedlander MJ, Sherman SM (1979) Morphology of physiologically identified neurons in the visual cortex of the cat. Brain Res 172: 344–348
Lund JS, Henry GH, Macqueen GL, Harvey AR (1979) Anatomical organisation of the primary visual cortex (area 17) of the cat. A comparison with area 17 of the monkey. J Comp Neurol 184: 599–618
Marin-Padilla M (1969) Origin of the pericellular baskets of the pyramidal cells of the human motor cortex: a Golgi study. Brain Res 14: 633–646
Marin-Padilla M, Stibitz GR (1974) Three dimensional reconstruction of the basket cell of the human motor cortex. Brain Res 70: 511–514
Martin KAC, Whitteridge D (1981) Morphological identification of cells of the cat's visual cortex classified with regard to their afferent input and receptive field type. J Physiol (Lond) 320: 14P-15P
Payne BR, Berman N, Murphy EH (1980) Organisation of direction preferences in cat visual cortex. Brain Res 211: 445–450
Peters A, Proskauer CC (1980) Synaptic relationship between a multipolar stellate cell and a pyramidal neuron in the rat visual cortex. A combined Golgi-electron microscope study. J Neurocytol 9: 163–183
Peters A, Regidor JJ (1981) A reassessment of the forms of nonpyramidal neurons in area 17 of the cat visual cortex. J Comp Neurol 203: 685–716
Peters A, Proskauer CC, Ribak CE (1982) Chandelier cells in rat visual cortex. J Comp Neurol 206: 397–416
Ramón y Cajal S (1911) Histologie du système nerveux de l'homme et des vertébrés, vol II. Maloine, Paris
Shatz CJ, Lindström S, Wiesel TN (1977) The distribution of afferents representing the right and left eyes in the cat's visual cortex. Brain Res 131: 103–116
Sillito AM (1975) The contribution of inhibitory mechanisms to the receptive field properties of neurones in the striate cortex of the cat. J Physiol (Lond) 250: 305–329
So K, Shapley RM (1979) Spatial properties of X and Y cells in the lateral geniculate nucleus of the cat, and conduction velocities of their input. Exp Brain Res 36: 533–550
Somogyi P (1977) A specific axon-axonal interaction in the visual cortex of the rat. Brain Res 136: 345–350
Somogyi P (1978) The study of Golgi stained cells and of experimental degeneration under the electron microscope: a direct method for the identification in the visual cortex of three successive links in a neuron chain. Neuroscience 3: 167–180
Somogyi P, Freund TF, Cowey A (1982) The axo-axonic inter-neuron in the cerebral cortex of the rat, cat and monkey. Neuroscience 7: 2577–2608
Somogyi P, Hodgson AJ, Smith AD (1979) An approach to tracing neuron networks in the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia. Combination of Golgi staining, retrograde transport of horse radish peroxidase and anterograde degeneration of synaptic boutons in the same material. Neuroscience 4: 1805–1852
Szentágothai J (1973) Synaptology of the visual cortex. In: Jung R (ed) Handbook of Sensory Physiology, VII/3, part B. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 269–324
Szentágothai J (1975) The module concept in the cerebral cortical architecture. Brain Res 95: 475–496
Szentágothai J (1978) The neuron network of the cerebral cortex: a functional interpretation. Proc R Soc Lond [Biol] 201: 219–248
Tolhurst DJ, Dean AF, Thompson ID (1981) Preferred direction of movement as an element in the organisation of cat visual cortex. Exp Brain Res 44: 340–342
Tömböl T (1978) Comparative data on the Golgi architecture of interneurons of different cortical areas in the cat and rabbit. In: Brazier MAB, Petsch H (eds) Architectonics of the cerebral cortex. IBRO monograph, vol 3, Raven Press, New York, pp 59–76
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Supported by the M.R.C. P.S. acknowledges the support of the Wellcome Trust and the International Cultural Institute of Budapest
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Martin, K.A.C., Somogyi, P. & Whitteridge, D. Physiological and morphological properties of identified basket cells in the cat's visual cortex. Exp Brain Res 50, 193–200 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239183
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239183