Agranular cortex is a
cytoarchitecturally defined term denoting the type of
heterotypic cortex
Heterotypic cortex consists of those areas of the mature neocortex that deviate markedly from the homogeneous six-layered internal structure seen in the third trimester of human gestation. A few neocortical areas, such as Brodmann area 17 and the g ...
that is distinguished by its relative thickness and lack of
granule cells
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 ...
. Examples are
Brodmann area 30
Brodmann area 30, also known as agranular retrolimbic area 30, is a subdivision of the cytoarchitecturally defined retrosplenial region of the cerebral cortex. In the human it is located in the isthmus of cingulate gyrus. Cytoarchitecturally it ...
, the
agranular insula
Agranular insula is a portion of the cerebral cortex defined on the basis of internal structure in the human, the macaque, the rat, and the mouse. Classified as allocortex (periallocortex), it is in primates distinguished from adjacent neocortex
...
, and the
precentral gyrus
The precentral gyrus is a prominent gyrus on the surface of the posterior frontal lobe of the brain. It is the site of the primary motor cortex that in humans is cytoarchitecturally defined as Brodmann area 4.
Structure
The precentral gyrus li ...
, the site of the primary motor cortex.
An area of cortex that is only slightly granulated is termed dysgranular.
References
Cerebral cortex
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