Retrosplenial cortex

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Retrosplenial cortex
Gray727-Brodman.png
Medial surface of the brain with Brodmann's areas numbered.
Details
Identifiers
Latin regio retrosplenialis
NeuroNames 2436, 1802
Anatomical terms of neuroanatomy

The retrosplenial cortex (RSC) is a cortical area in the brain comprising Brodmann areas 29 and 30. [1] It is secondary association cortex, making connections with numerous other brain regions. The region's name refers to its anatomical location immediately behind the splenium of the corpus callosum in primates, although in rodents it is located more towards the brain surface and is relatively larger. Its function is currently not well understood, but its location close to visual areas and also to the hippocampal spatial/memory system suggest it may have a role in mediating between perceptual and memory functions, [2] particularly in the spatial domain. [3] However, its exact contribution to either space or memory processing has been hard to pin down. [4]

Contents

Anatomy

There is large variation in the region's size across different species. In humans it comprises roughly 0.3% of the entire cortical surface whereas in rabbits it is at least 10% [5] and in rats it extends for more than half the cerebrum dorso-ventrally, making it one of the largest cortical regions. [2]

On the basis of its microscopic cellular structure it is divided into dysgranular (area 30) and granular (area 29) regions. [1] These have been divided into four areas: 29l, 29m, 30l, and 30m. [6] It has dense reciprocal projections with the visual cortex, postsubiculum (also known as dorsal presubiculum) and with anterior thalamic nuclei and the hippocampus. [7]

Neurophysiology

Neurophysiological studies of retrosplenial cortex have mainly been done in rats. Early work showed that around 8.5% of neurons in the retrosplenial cortex are head direction cells while other neurons have correlated with movement parameters such as spatial location and running speed. [8] [9] Recent studies have shown that retrosplenial neuronal activity reflects multiple parameters simultaneously including which environment the animal is currently in, [10] its spatial position in the environment, [11] [10] its current head direction and running speed, [10] as well as whether the animal is turning [11] or plans to turn in the future. [12] Many of these features of retrosplenial neurophysiology develop slowly as the animal learns to navigate within an environment, [12] consistent with the idea that the retrosplenial cortex participates in the long-term storage of spatial memory. [13]

Function

In humans, fMRI studies implicate the retrosplenial cortex in a wide range of cognitive functions including episodic memory, navigation, imagining future events and processing scenes more generally. [2] [14] Rodent studies suggest the region is important for using surrounding visual cues to carry out these tasks. [13] [15] [16] [17] Retrosplenial cortex is particularly responsive to permanent, non-moving environmental landmarks [18] [19] and is also implicated in using them to make spatial judgements. [20] [21] A review in 2023 suggested its function was "spatial navigation and localization of personally relevant objects". [6]

It has also been suggested that retrosplenial cortex may translate between egocentric (self-centred) and allocentric (world-centred) spatial information, based upon its anatomical location between the hippocampus (where there are allocentric place cell representations) and the parietal lobe (which integrates egocentric sensory information). [13] [22] [23]

Competitors in the World Memory Championships are able to perform outstanding feats of memory and show increased fMRI activation in their retrosplenial cortex than normal controls when doing so. [24] This is thought to be due to their use of a spatial learning strategy or mnemonic device known as the method of loci.

The region also displays slow-wave theta rhythmicity [25] and when people retrieve autobiographical memories, there is theta band interaction between the retrosplenial cortex and the medial temporal lobe. [26]

Pathology

The retrosplenial cortex is one of several brain areas that produces both an anterograde and retrograde amnesia when damaged. [27] People with lesions involving the retrosplenial cortex also display a form of topographical disorientation whereby they can recognise and identify environmental landmarks, but are unable to use them to orientate themselves. [2]

The retrosplenial cortex is one of the first regions to undergo pathological changes in Alzheimer's disease and its prodromal phase of mild cognitive impairment. [28] [29] [30] There are also experimental findings showing that layer 5 of the retrosplenial cortex is likely responsible for dissociative states of consciousness in mammals. [31]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entorhinal cortex</span> Area of the temporal lobe of the brain

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. The EC is the main interface between the hippocampus and neocortex. The EC-hippocampus system plays an important role in declarative (autobiographical/episodic/semantic) memories and in particular spatial memories including memory formation, memory consolidation, and memory optimization in sleep. The EC is also responsible for the pre-processing (familiarity) of the input signals in the reflex nictitating membrane response of classical trace conditioning; the association of impulses from the eye and the ear occurs in the entorhinal cortex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Visual cortex</span> Region of the brain that processes visual information

The visual cortex of the brain is the area of the cerebral cortex that processes visual information. It is located in the occipital lobe. Sensory input originating from the eyes travels through the lateral geniculate nucleus in the thalamus and then reaches the visual cortex. The area of the visual cortex that receives the sensory input from the lateral geniculate nucleus is the primary visual cortex, also known as visual area 1 (V1), Brodmann area 17, or the striate cortex. The extrastriate areas consist of visual areas 2, 3, 4, and 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hippocampus</span> Vertebrate brain region involved in memory consolidation

The hippocampus is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, and plays important roles in the consolidation of information from short-term memory to long-term memory, and in spatial memory that enables navigation. The hippocampus is located in the allocortex, with neural projections into the neocortex, in humans as well as other primates. The hippocampus, as the medial pallium, is a structure found in all vertebrates. In humans, it contains two main interlocking parts: the hippocampus proper, and the dentate gyrus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thalamus</span> Structure within the brain

The thalamus is a large mass of gray matter on the lateral walls of the third ventricle forming the dorsal part of the diencephalon. Nerve fibers project out of the thalamus to the cerebral cortex in all directions, known as the thalamocortical radiations, allowing hub-like exchanges of information. It has several functions, such as the relaying of sensory and motor signals to the cerebral cortex and the regulation of consciousness, sleep, and alertness.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cingulate cortex</span> Part of the brain within the cerebral cortex

The cingulate cortex is a part of the brain situated in the medial aspect of the cerebral cortex. The cingulate cortex includes the entire cingulate gyrus, which lies immediately above the corpus callosum, and the continuation of this in the cingulate sulcus. The cingulate cortex is usually considered part of the limbic lobe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brodmann area 10</span> Brain area

Brodmann area 10 is the anterior-most portion of the prefrontal cortex in the human brain. BA10 was originally defined broadly in terms of its cytoarchitectonic traits as they were observed in the brains of cadavers, but because modern functional imaging cannot precisely identify these boundaries, the terms anterior prefrontal cortex, rostral prefrontal cortex and frontopolar prefrontal cortex are used to refer to the area in the most anterior part of the frontal cortex that approximately covers BA10—simply to emphasize the fact that BA10 does not include all parts of the prefrontal cortex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spatial memory</span> Memory about ones environment and spatial orientation

In cognitive psychology and neuroscience, spatial memory is a form of memory responsible for the recording and recovery of information needed to plan a course to a location and to recall the location of an object or the occurrence of an event. Spatial memory is necessary for orientation in space. Spatial memory can also be divided into egocentric and allocentric spatial memory. A person's spatial memory is required to navigate around a familiar city. A rat's spatial memory is needed to learn the location of food at the end of a maze. In both humans and animals, spatial memories are summarized as a cognitive map.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Place cell</span> Place-activated hippocampus cells found in some mammals

A place cell is a kind of pyramidal neuron in the hippocampus that becomes active when an animal enters a particular place in its environment, which is known as the place field. Place cells are thought to act collectively as a cognitive representation of a specific location in space, known as a cognitive map. Place cells work with other types of neurons in the hippocampus and surrounding regions to perform this kind of spatial processing. They have been found in a variety of animals, including rodents, bats, monkeys and humans.

A gamma wave or gamma rhythm is a pattern of neural oscillation in humans with a frequency between 30 and 100 Hz, the 40 Hz point being of particular interest. Gamma rhythms are correlated with large-scale brain network activity and cognitive phenomena such as working memory, attention, and perceptual grouping, and can be increased in amplitude via meditation or neurostimulation. Altered gamma activity has been observed in many mood and cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.

Explicit memory is one of the two main types of long-term human memory, the other of which is implicit memory. Explicit memory is the conscious, intentional recollection of factual information, previous experiences, and concepts. This type of memory is dependent upon three processes: acquisition, consolidation, and retrieval.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prefrontal cortex</span> Part of the brain responsible for personality, decision-making, and social behavior

In mammalian brain anatomy, the prefrontal cortex (PFC) covers the front part of the frontal lobe of the cerebral cortex. It is the association cortex in the frontal lobe. The PFC contains the Brodmann areas BA8, BA9, BA10, BA11, BA12, BA13, BA14, BA24, BA25, BA32, BA44, BA45, BA46, and BA47.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Subiculum</span> Most inferior part of the hippocampal formation

The subiculum is the most inferior component of the hippocampal formation. It lies between the entorhinal cortex and the CA1 subfield of the hippocampus proper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brodmann area 27</span>

Area 27 of Brodmann-1909 is a cytoarchitecturally defined cortical area that is a rostral part of the parahippocampal gyrus. It is commonly regarded as a synonym of presubiculum.

Theta waves generate the theta rhythm, a neural oscillation in the brain that underlies various aspects of cognition and behavior, including learning, memory, and spatial navigation in many animals. It can be recorded using various electrophysiological methods, such as electroencephalogram (EEG), recorded either from inside the brain or from electrodes attached to the scalp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brodmann area 30</span>

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 is bounded internally by the granular retrolimbic area 29, dorsally by the ventral posterior cingulate area 23 and ventrolaterally by the ectorhinal area 36 (Brodmann-1909).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Posterior cingulate cortex</span> Caudal part of the cingulate cortex of the brain

The posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) is the caudal part of the cingulate cortex, located posterior to the anterior cingulate cortex. This is the upper part of the "limbic lobe". The cingulate cortex is made up of an area around the midline of the brain. Surrounding areas include the retrosplenial cortex and the precuneus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Hasselmo</span> American neuroscientist

Michael Hasselmo is an American neuroscientist and professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Boston University. He is the director of the Center for Systems Neuroscience and is editor-in-chief of Hippocampus (journal). Hasselmo studies oscillatory dynamics and neuromodulatory regulation in cortical mechanisms for memory guided behavior and spatial navigation using a combination of neurophysiological and behavioral experiments in conjunction with computational modeling. In addition to his peer-reviewed publications, Hasselmo wrote the book How We Remember: Brain Mechanisms of Episodic Memory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorsolateral prefrontal cortex</span> Area of the prefrontal cortex of primates

The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is an area in the prefrontal cortex of the primate brain. It is one of the most recently derived parts of the human brain. It undergoes a prolonged period of maturation which lasts into adulthood. The DLPFC is not an anatomical structure, but rather a functional one. It lies in the middle frontal gyrus of humans. In macaque monkeys, it is around the principal sulcus. Other sources consider that DLPFC is attributed anatomically to BA 9 and 46 and BA 8, 9 and 10.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nucleus reuniens</span>

The nucleus reuniens is a region of the thalamic midline nuclear group. In the human brain, it is located in the interthalamic adhesion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Maguire</span> Irish neuroscientist (born 1970)

Eleanor Anne Maguire is an Irish neuroscientist. Since 2007, she has been Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London where she is also a Wellcome Trust Principal Research Fellow.

References

  1. 1 2 Vogt, B. A. (1976-09-01). "Retrosplenial cortex in the rhesus monkey: a cytoarchitectonic and Golgi study". The Journal of Comparative Neurology. 169 (1): 63–97. doi:10.1002/cne.901690105. ISSN   0021-9967. PMID   821976. S2CID   25585934.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Vann, Seralynne D.; Aggleton, John P.; Maguire, Eleanor A. (8 October 2009). "What does the retrosplenial cortex do?". Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 10 (11): 792–802. doi:10.1038/nrn2733. PMID   19812579. S2CID   9774642.
  3. ↑ Mitchell, Anna S.; Czajkowski, Rafal; Zhang, Ningyu; Jeffery, Kate; Nelson, Andrew J. D. (2018-03-19). "Retrosplenial cortex and its role in spatial cognition". Brain and Neuroscience Advances. 2. doi:10.1177/2398212818757098. PMC   6095108 . PMID   30221204.
  4. ↑ Vann, Seralynne D.; Aggleton, John P.; Maguire, Eleanor A. (November 2009). "What does the retrosplenial cortex do?". Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 10 (11): 792–802. doi:10.1038/nrn2733. ISSN   1471-003X. PMID   19812579. S2CID   9774642.
  5. ↑ notes, K. Brodmann; translated with editorial; Garey, an introduction by Laurence J. (2006). Brodmann's Localisation in the cerebral cortex the principles of comparative localisation in the cerebral cortex based on cytoarchitectonics (3rd ed.). New York: Springer. ISBN   978-0-387-26919-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. 1 2 Vogt, Brent A.; Rosene, Douglas L. (2023). "Comparison of monkey and human retrosplenial neurocytology". Journal of Comparative Neurology. 531 (18): 2044–2061. doi:10.1002/cne.25561. ISSN   0021-9967.
  7. ↑ Sugar, Jorgen; Witter, Menno P.; van Strien, Niels; Cappaert, Natalie (2011). "The Retrosplenial Cortex: Intrinsic Connectivity and Connections with the (Para)Hippocampal Region in the Rat. An Interactive Connectome". Frontiers in Neuroinformatics. 5: 7. doi: 10.3389/fninf.2011.00007 . ISSN   1662-5196. PMC   3147162 . PMID   21847380.
  8. ↑ Chen, Longtang L.; Lin, Lie-Huey; Green, Edward J.; Barnes, Carol A.; McNaughton, Bruce L. (September 1994). "Head-direction cells in the rat posterior cortex". Experimental Brain Research. 101 (1): 8–23. doi:10.1007/BF00243212. PMID   7843305. S2CID   25125371.
  9. ↑ Cho, J; Sharp, PE (February 2001). "Head direction, place, and movement correlates for cells in the rat retrosplenial cortex". Behavioral Neuroscience. 115 (1): 3–25. doi:10.1037/0735-7044.115.1.3. PMID   11256450.
  10. 1 2 3 Miller, Adam M P; Serrichio, Anna C; Smith, David M (2021-05-01). "Dual-Factor Representation of the Environmental Context in the Retrosplenial Cortex". Cerebral Cortex. 31 (5): 2720–2728. doi:10.1093/cercor/bhaa386. ISSN   1047-3211. PMC   8023839 . PMID   33386396.
  11. 1 2 Alexander, Andrew S.; Nitz, Douglas A. (2015-08-01). "Retrosplenial cortex maps the conjunction of internal and external spaces". Nature Neuroscience. 18 (8): 1143–1151. doi:10.1038/nn.4058. ISSN   1546-1726. PMID   26147532. S2CID   13211352.
  12. 1 2 Miller, Adam M.P.; Mau, William; Smith, David M. (June 2019). "Retrosplenial Cortical Representations of Space and Future Goal Locations Develop with Learning". Current Biology. 29 (12): 2083–2090.e4. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2019.05.034. PMC   6637961 . PMID   31178316.
  13. 1 2 3 Miller, Adam M. P.; Vedder, Lindsey C.; Law, L. Matthew; Smith, David M. (2014-08-05). "Cues, context, and long-term memory: the role of the retrosplenial cortex in spatial cognition". Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 8: 586. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2014.00586 . ISSN   1662-5161. PMC   4122222 . PMID   25140141.
  14. ↑ Spreng, R. Nathan; Mar, Raymond A.; Kim, Alice S. N. (March 2009). "The Common Neural Basis of Autobiographical Memory, Prospection, Navigation, Theory of Mind, and the Default Mode: A Quantitative Meta-analysis". Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 21 (3): 489–510. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.454.7288 . doi:10.1162/jocn.2008.21029. PMID   18510452. S2CID   2069491.
  15. ↑ Pothuizen, Helen H. J.; Davies, Moira; Albasser, Mathieu M.; Aggleton, John P.; Vann, Seralynne D. (September 2009). "Granular and dysgranular retrosplenial cortices provide qualitatively different contributions to spatial working memory: evidence from immediate-early gene imaging in rats". European Journal of Neuroscience. 30 (5): 877–888. doi:10.1111/j.1460-9568.2009.06881.x. PMID   19712100. S2CID   24868413.
  16. ↑ Czajkowski, R.; Jayaprakash, B.; Wiltgen, B.; Rogerson, T.; Guzman-Karlsson, M. C.; Barth, A. L.; Trachtenberg, J. T.; Silva, A. J. (27 May 2014). "Encoding and storage of spatial information in the retrosplenial cortex". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (23): 8661–8666. Bibcode:2014PNAS..111.8661C. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1313222111 . PMC   4060653 . PMID   24912150.
  17. ↑ Yoder, Ryan M.; Clark, Benjamin J.; Taube, Jeffrey S. (November 2011). "Origins of landmark encoding in the brain". Trends in Neurosciences. 34 (11): 561–571. doi:10.1016/j.tins.2011.08.004. PMC   3200508 . PMID   21982585.
  18. ↑ Auger, Stephen D.; Mullally, Sinéad L.; Maguire, Eleanor A.; Baker, Chris I. (17 August 2012). "Retrosplenial Cortex Codes for Permanent Landmarks". PLOS ONE. 7 (8): e43620. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...743620A. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0043620 . PMC   3422332 . PMID   22912894.
  19. ↑ Auger, Stephen D.; Maguire, Eleanor A. (November 2013). "Assessing the mechanism of response in the retrosplenial cortex of good and poor navigators". Cortex. 49 (10): 2904–2913. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2013.08.002. PMC   3878422 . PMID   24012136.
  20. ↑ Committeri, Giorgia; Galati, Gaspare; Paradis, Anne-Lise; Pizzamiglio, Luigi; Berthoz, Alain; LeBihan, Denis (November 2004). "Reference Frames for Spatial Cognition: Different Brain Areas are Involved in Viewer-, Object-, and Landmark-Centered Judgments About Object Location". Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. 16 (9): 1517–1535. doi:10.1162/0898929042568550. PMID   15601516. S2CID   15743957.
  21. ↑ Galati, Gaspare; Pelle, Gina; Berthoz, Alain; Committeri, Giorgia (26 February 2010). "Multiple reference frames used by the human brain for spatial perception and memory". Experimental Brain Research. 206 (2): 109–120. doi:10.1007/s00221-010-2168-8. PMID   20186405. S2CID   23546010.
  22. ↑ Byrne, Patrick; Becker, Suzanna; Burgess, Neil (2007). "Remembering the past and imagining the future: A neural model of spatial memory and imagery". Psychological Review. 114 (2): 340–375. doi:10.1037/0033-295X.114.2.340. PMC   2678675 . PMID   17500630.
  23. ↑ Marchette, Steven; Vass, Lindsay; Ryan, Jack; Epstein, Russell (2014). "Anchoring the neural compass: Coding of local spatial reference frames in human medial parietal lobe". Nature Neuroscience. 17 (11): 1598–1606. doi:10.1038/nn.3834. PMC   4309016 . PMID   25282616.
  24. ↑ Maguire, Eleanor A.; Valentine, Elizabeth R.; Wilding, John M.; Kapur, Narinder (16 December 2002). "Routes to remembering: the brains behind superior memory". Nature Neuroscience. 6 (1): 90–95. doi:10.1038/nn988. PMID   12483214. S2CID   13921255.
  25. ↑ Destrade, C; Ott, T (2 December 1982). "Is a retrosplenial (cingulate) pathway involved in the mediation of high frequency hippocampal rhythmical slow activity (theta)?". Brain Research. 252 (1): 29–37. doi:10.1016/0006-8993(82)90975-1. PMID   6293657. S2CID   22294467.
  26. ↑ Foster, B. L.; Kaveh, A.; Dastjerdi, M.; Miller, K. J.; Parvizi, J. (19 June 2013). "Human Retrosplenial Cortex Displays Transient Theta Phase Locking with Medial Temporal Cortex Prior to Activation during Autobiographical Memory Retrieval". Journal of Neuroscience. 33 (25): 10439–10446. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0513-13.2013. PMC   3685837 . PMID   23785155.
  27. ↑ Valenstein, E; Bowers, D; Verfaellie, M; Heilman, KM; Day, A; Watson, RT (December 1987). "Retrosplenial amnesia". Brain: A Journal of Neurology. 110 (6): 1631–46. doi: 10.1093/brain/110.6.1631 . PMID   3427404.
  28. ↑ Pengas, George; Hodges, John R.; Watson, Peter; Nestor, Peter J. (January 2010). "Focal posterior cingulate atrophy in incipient Alzheimer's disease". Neurobiology of Aging. 31 (1): 25–33. doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2008.03.014. PMID   18455838. S2CID   34598530.
  29. ↑ Pengas, George; Williams, Guy B.; Acosta-Cabronero, Julio; Ash, Tom W. J.; Hong, Young T.; Izquierdo-Garcia, David; Fryer, Tim D.; Hodges, John R.; Nestor, Peter J. (2012). "Retrosplenial Cortex (BA 29) Volumes in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease". Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience. 4: 17. doi: 10.3389/fnagi.2012.00017 . PMC   3389330 . PMID   22783190.
  30. ↑ Tan, Rachel H.; Wong, Stephanie; Hodges, John R.; Halliday, Glenda M.; Hornberger, Michael (2013). "Retrosplenial Cortex (BA 29) Volumes in Behavioral Variant Frontotemporal Dementia and Alzheimer's Disease". Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. 35 (3–4): 177–182. doi:10.1159/000346392. PMID   23406695. S2CID   45735133.
  31. ↑ Vesuna, S; et al. (September 2020). "Deep posteromedial cortical rhythm in dissociation". Nature. 586 (7827): 87–94. Bibcode:2020Natur.586...87V. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2731-9. PMC   7553818 . PMID   32939091. S2CID   221769346.
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