Allocortex
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The allocortex (from Latin allo-, meaning other, and cortex, meaning bark or crust), or heterogenetic cortex, is one of the two types of
cerebral cortex The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of Neuron, neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays ...
in the
brain The brain is an organ (biology), organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals. It consists of nervous tissue and is typically located in the head (cephalization), usually near organs for ...
, together with the
neocortex The neocortex, also called the neopallium, isocortex, or the six-layered cortex, is a set of layers of the mammalian cerebral cortex involved in higher-order brain functions such as sensory perception, cognition, generation of motor commands, ...
. In the
human brain The human brain is the central organ (anatomy), organ of the nervous system, and with the spinal cord, comprises the central nervous system. It consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem and the cerebellum. The brain controls most of the activi ...
, the allocortex is the much smaller area of cortex taking up just 10%; the neocortex takes up the remaining 90%. It is characterized by having just three cortical layers (one main neural layer), in contrast with the six
cortical layers The cerebral cortex, also known as the cerebral mantle, is the outer layer of neural tissue of the cerebrum of the brain in humans and other mammals. It is the largest site of neural integration in the central nervous system, and plays a key ...
of the neocortex. There are three subtypes of allocortex: the
paleocortex In anatomy of animals, the paleocortex, or paleopallium, is a region within the telencephalon in the vertebrate brain. This type of cerebral cortex, cortical tissue consists of three cortical laminae (layers of perikaryon, neuronal cell bodies). I ...
, the
archicortex The archicortex, or archipallium, is the phylogenetically second oldest region of the brain's cerebral cortex (the oldest is the paleocortex). In older species, such as fish, the archipallium makes up most of the cerebrum. Amphibians develop an a ...
, and the
periallocortex Periallocortex is one of three subtypes of allocortex, the other two subtypes being paleocortex and archicortex. The periallocortex is formed at transition areas where any of the other two subtypes of allocortex borders with the neocortex (which i ...
—a transitional zone between the neocortex and the allocortex. The specific regions of the brain usually described as belonging to the allocortex are the
olfactory system The olfactory system, is the sensory nervous system, sensory system used for the sense of smell (olfaction). Olfaction is one of the special senses directly associated with specific organs. Most mammals and reptiles have a main olfactory system ...
and the
hippocampus The hippocampus (: hippocampi; via Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek , 'seahorse'), also hippocampus proper, is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. In the human brain the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and the ...
. Allocortex is termed heterogenetic cortex, because during development it never has the six-layered architecture of homogenetic neocortex. It differs from heterotypic cortex, a type of cerebral cortex, which during prenatal development, passes through a six-layered stage to have fewer layers, such as the
agranular cortex Agranular cortex is a cytoarchitecturally defined term denoting the type of heterotypic cortex that is distinguished by its relative thickness and lack of granule cells. Examples are Brodmann area 30, the agranular insula, and the precentral gyru ...
such as
Brodmann area 4 Brodmann area 4 refers to the primary motor cortex of the human brain. It is located in the posterior portion of the frontal lobe. Brodmann area 4 is part of the precentral gyrus. The borders of this area are: the precentral sulcus in front ...
that lacks
granule cell The name granule cell has been used for a number of different types of neurons whose only common feature is that they all have very small cell bodies. Granule cells are found within the granular layer of the cerebellum, the dentate gyrus of t ...
s.


Structure

The allocortex has three layers (one main neuronal layer) in contrast to the six layers of the neocortex. There are three subtypes of allocortex: the paleocortex, archicortex and periallocortex.
Paleocortex In anatomy of animals, the paleocortex, or paleopallium, is a region within the telencephalon in the vertebrate brain. This type of cerebral cortex, cortical tissue consists of three cortical laminae (layers of perikaryon, neuronal cell bodies). I ...
is a type of thin, primitive cortical tissue that consists of three cortical laminae (layers of neuronal cell bodies). The two granular layers II and IV of neocortex are absent in paleocortex. The main areas of paleocortex are the
olfactory bulb The olfactory bulb (Latin: ''bulbus olfactorius'') is a neural structure of the vertebrate forebrain involved in olfaction, the sense of smell. It sends olfactory information to be further processed in the amygdala, the orbitofrontal cortex (OF ...
,
olfactory tubercle The olfactory tubercle (OT), also known as the tuberculum olfactorium, is a multi-sensory processing center that is contained within the olfactory cortex and ventral striatum and plays a role in reward cognition. The OT has also been shown to ...
and
piriform cortex The piriform cortex, or pyriform cortex, is a region in the brain, part of the rhinencephalon situated in the cerebrum. The function of the piriform cortex relates to the sense of smell. Structure The piriform cortex is part of the rhinencephal ...
.
Archicortex The archicortex, or archipallium, is the phylogenetically second oldest region of the brain's cerebral cortex (the oldest is the paleocortex). In older species, such as fish, the archipallium makes up most of the cerebrum. Amphibians develop an a ...
is a type of cortical tissue that consists of four laminae (layers of neuronal cell bodies). The main areas of archicortex are the
hippocampus The hippocampus (: hippocampi; via Latin from Ancient Greek, Greek , 'seahorse'), also hippocampus proper, is a major component of the brain of humans and many other vertebrates. In the human brain the hippocampus, the dentate gyrus, and the ...
and
dentate gyrus The dentate gyrus (DG) is one of the subfields of the hippocampus, in the hippocampal formation. The hippocampal formation is located in the temporal lobe of the brain, and includes the hippocampus (including CA1 to CA4) subfields, and other su ...
.
Periallocortex Periallocortex is one of three subtypes of allocortex, the other two subtypes being paleocortex and archicortex. The periallocortex is formed at transition areas where any of the other two subtypes of allocortex borders with the neocortex (which i ...
is a transitional form between neocortex and either paleo- or archicortex. It thus can be either peripaleocortex (anterior insular cortex) or
periarchicortex Periarchicortex is one of two subtypes of periallocortex, the other being peripaleocortex. It is formed at borders between archicortex (a subtype of allocortex) and isocortex and shows slow histological transition from the four-layered structure t ...
(
entorhinal cortex The entorhinal cortex (EC) is an area of the brain's allocortex, located in the medial temporal lobe, whose functions include being a widespread network hub for memory, navigation, and the perception of time.Integrating time from experience in t ...
, presubicular cortex, retrosplenial, supracallosal, and subgenual areas). Because the number of laminae that compose a type of cortical tissue seems to be directly proportional to both the information-processing capabilities of that tissue and its phylogenetic age, and also because olfaction is a major sensory modality in phylogenetically early animals, paleocortex is thought to be the most primitive form of cortex.


See also

*
Paralimbic cortex The paralimbic cortex is an area of three-layered cortex that includes the following regions: the piriform cortex, entorhinal cortex, the parahippocampal cortex on the medial surface of the temporal lobe, and the cingulate cortex just above the c ...
*


References

* "Allocortex." ''Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 27th ed.'' (2000). * Haines, Duane E. ''Fundamental Neuroscience, 2nd.'' (2002). {{Authority control Cerebral cortex