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The Journal of Neuroscience, September 15, 2000, 20(18):6974-6982
New Features of Connectivity in Piriform Cortex Visualized by
Intracellular Injection of Pyramidal Cells Suggest that "Primary"
Olfactory Cortex Functions Like "Association" Cortex in Other
Sensory Systems
Dawn M. G.
Johnson1, 2,
Kurt R.
Illig1,
Mary
Behan3, and
Lewis B.
Haberly1
Departments of 1 Anatomy, 2 Neuroscience
Training Program, and 3 Comparative Biosciences, University
of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706
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ABSTRACT |
Associational connections of pyramidal cells in rat posterior
piriform cortex were studied by direct visualization of axons stained
by intracellular injection in vivo. The results revealed that individual cells have widespread axonal arbors that extend over
nearly the full length of the cerebral hemisphere. Within piriform
cortex these arbors are highly distributed with no regularly arranged
patchy concentrations like those associated with the columnar
organization in other primary sensory areas (i.e., where periodically
arranged sets of cells have common response properties, inputs, and
outputs). A lack of columnar organization was also indicated by a
marked disparity in the intrinsic projection patterns of
neighboring injected cells. Analysis of axonal branching patterns, bouton distributions, and dendritic arbors suggested that each pyramidal cell makes a small number of synaptic contacts on a large number (>1000) of other cells in piriform cortex at disparate locations. Axons from individual pyramidal cells also arborize extensively within many neighboring cortical areas, most of which send
strong projections back to piriform cortex. These include areas
involved in high-order functions in prefrontal, amygdaloid, entorhinal,
and perirhinal cortex, to which there are few projections from other
primary sensory areas. Our results suggest that piriform cortex
performs correlative functions analogous to those in association areas
of neocortex rather than those typical of primary sensory areas with
which it has been traditionally classed. Findings from other studies
suggest that the olfactory bulb subserves functions performed by
primary areas in other sensory systems.
Key words:
piriform cortex; olfactory cortex; cortico-cortical; olfaction; association cortex; neural networks
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INTRODUCTION |
Piriform cortex has long been
considered as "primary" olfactory cortex because it is the largest
area that receives direct input from the olfactory bulb (OB), the
structure that monosynaptically relays input from olfactory receptor
neurons. However, physiological and anatomical studies suggest that
this cortical area is organized in a fundamentally different way than
the primary cortical areas for nonchemical senses (Haberly, 1998 ).
Physiological studies have shown that neurons in piriform cortex
typically respond in varying degree to odorant molecules with a broad
range of structure (Tanabe et al., 1975 ; Schoenbaum and Eichenbaum,
1995 ), in contrast to the exquisite selectivity exhibited by cells in
primary sensory areas in neocortex. Studies with extracellularly
injected axon tracers have shown that associational (cortico-cortical)
projections from restricted regions of piriform cortex are highly
distributed spatially, both within piriform cortex and in other
olfactory cortical areas (Haberly and Price, 1978 ; Luskin and Price,
1983 ). This contrasts with the topographically ordered, columnar
architecture of the other primary sensory areas in rat and higher
mammals (Chapin et al., 1987 ; Malach, 1989 ; Ojima et al., 1991 ), and is
reminiscent of so-called "higher order" or "association" areas,
which lack the systematic point to point functional mapping observed in
the primary and secondary areas from which they receive input (Kaas, 1993 ; Zeki, 1993 ; Pandya, 1995 ). Previous morphological studies have
also shown that piriform cortex projects to areas that are thought to
play a role in mediating complex functions related to integrating
sensory cues with behavior (prefrontal cortex), assessing the emotional
or motivational significance of sensory cues (amygdala), and
multisensory association and memory (entorhinal and perirhinal cortex)
(Luskin and Price, 1983 ). This contrasts with other senses in which
secondary and higher order areas are interposed between the primary
areas that receive ascending sensory input and function-related areas
(Pritzel and Markowitsch, 1981 ; Ottersen, 1982 ; Burwell and Amaral,
1998 ). These characteristics of piriform cortex suggest that it is
functionally analogous to association areas for other sensory
modalities rather than to the primary receiving areas. In other words,
rather than being primarily concerned with extracting and refining
specific stimulus features like primary neocortical areas, piriform
cortex plays a role in linking the combinatorial representations of
odorant structure that constitute the olfactory code, and in
associating olfactory and other forms of information. This study
examines features of cellular-level intrinsic and extrinsic connections of pyramidal cells that provide a basis for evaluating the validity of
this conceptual framework for the posterior subdivision of piriform cortex.
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MATERIALS AND METHODS |
Experiments were performed on adult male Long-Evans rats
weighing 160-200 gm. Surgery was performed under chloral hydrate anesthesia (initial dosage, 420 mg/kg). Research protocols were approved by the University of Wisconsin Animal Care and Use Committee and conform to National Institutes of Health animal use guidelines.
Surgery consisted of exposing the surface of piriform cortex by
excising and retracting the mandibular musculature, making a small
opening in the skull with a dental burr, and incising the dura. The
brain was stabilized with 4% agar or 3% agarose in artificial CSF
containing (in mM): 147 Na+,
3.5 K+, 1.5 Ca2+, and 0.7 Mg2+.
Intracellular injections were made with micropipettes with tip
resistances of 90-120 M when filled with 4% biotinylated dextran amine (BDA; 3000 MW; Molecular Probes, Eugene, OR) in 0.1 M K acetate, pH 7.4. Micropipettes were advanced in 2-12
µm increments with an Inchworm piezoelectric drive (Burleigh) while
monitoring laminar position by examining the field potential evoked by
current pulse stimulation of the OB or lateral olfactory tract through a tungsten microelectrode. After the pipette entered layer II, the
compact cell body layer, brief "entry pulses" were applied through
a circuit built into the Axoclamp-2A recording amplifier whenever an
increase in tip resistance indicated possible contact with neuronal
membrane. When the initial membrane potential after impalement was more
depolarized than 50 mV, steady hyperpolarizing current was applied
through a bridge circuit to bring it into the normal range ( 65 to
75 mV). This current was steadily decreased during recovery from
impalement damage until the membrane potential and time constant
stabilized in the normal range. Because responses of superficial
pyramidal (SP) cells to current pulse stimulation are rather
uniform across cells and have been previously described in
vivo and in slices, they are not illustrated in this report. Injection of BDA was by iontophoresis with +0.4-1 nA, 100 msec square
pulses for 10-20 min; survival time after injection was 2-7 d
to maximize the extent of axonal labeling. In general, unless cells
displayed near-normal membrane potentials and time constants at the
termination of injections, they were found to be unsuitable for
morphological analysis at the end of the long survival period. Brain
fixation was by perfusion through the aorta with 3% fresh formaldehyde
and 0.5% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 M
PO4. Frozen sections were cut at 60 or 80 µm,
usually at 45° to the sagittal plane to reduce their numbers.
Sections were reacted overnight at 4°C in Vector Elite ABC reagent
(Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA) in 0.05% Triton X-100 and
0.1% crystalline BSA in 0.1 M PBS, pH 7.4, reacted for 10 min in 0.04% diaminobenzidine (DAB) and 0.01%
H2O2 in 0.1 M
PO4, and dried onto subbed slides. To intensify
the DAB reaction product, mounted sections were dehydrated in an
alcohol series, defatted overnight in xylene, rehydrated, incubated in
1.4% AgNO3 in dH2O for 1 hr at 56°C, washed three times in dH2O, toned
in 0.2% HAuCl4 in dH2O for
10 min at room temperature, washed three times in dH2O, fixed in 5% sodium thiosulfate in
dH2O for 10 min, washed three times in
dH2O, dehydrated in alcohol, cleared in xylene, and coverslipped with Eukitt. This silver-gold intensification procedure allowed visualization of the finest caliber unmyelinated axons at medium power under bright-field illumination. Cortical lamination was visualized with dark-field illumination.
Analysis was confined to pyramidal cells in the central region of
piriform cortex; specifically, the rostral part of the posterior piriform cortex (PPC) (Luskin and Price, 1983 ). Only cells whose axons
appeared to be completely filled were studied in detail. Criteria used
to judge the extent of filling included the presence of specializations
at axon tips (distinctive hooks or growth cone-like swellings with a
terminal spike), and an abrupt rather than gradual decrease in staining
intensity that was typically observed after a survival period of 2-7
d. Axons were reconstructed through serial sections with a camera
lucida or Neurolucida system (MicroBrightfield) using a 40× oil
immersion objective with examination, as needed, at 100×.
Reconstructions were rotated and superimposed onto drawings of the
brain surface. Shrinkage in depth was corrected based on the original
section thickness. Shrinkage in other dimensions was minimal because
sections were attached to slides before dehydration, but small
corrections were made as needed when rotated arbors were superimposed
onto the surface drawings.
Bouton distributions were quantified by stratified random independent
sampling of five cells, with sections selected for analysis using a
random number table. A grid with 200 µm squares was projected onto
sections with the Neurolucida system and a square selected using the
random number table. All axon segments within the square were drawn
with a 100× oil immersion lens with the Neurolucida system. Boutons
were identified using criteria developed in an electron microscopic
analysis of intracellularly injected pyramidal cells in opossum
piriform cortex (Haberly and Presto, 1986 ). The close similarities
between rat and opossum piriform cortex in terms of the morphology and
distribution of pyramidal and nonpyramidal cells, connectivity, and
physiology (Haberly, 1998 ) suggest that such extrapolation to the rat
is valid. The Neurolucida system was used to compute distances between
boutons in three dimensions, independent of axon course.
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RESULTS |
Associational (cortico-cortical) connections of SP cells in the
central region of piriform cortex were visualized by intracellular injection of the stable intracellular tracer BDA. Previous results obtained with extracellularly injected axon tracers indicate that SP
cells are the dominant source of associational axons in the piriform
cortex (Haberly and Price, 1978 ), and morphological and physiological
studies (cited below) indicate that they are also the primary target.
Cell bodies of these neurons are the primary constituent of layer II,
which is the middle, highly compact cellular layer in this
phylogenetically old three-layered cortex. Apical dendrites of SP cells
extend to the surface through layer I (superficial plexiform layer),
and their extensive basal dendrites are concentrated in layer III.
Layer III also contains a low density of so-called deep pyramidal cells
and nonpyramidal cells that are largely GABAergic (Haberly, 1998 ).
A total of 17 well stained SP cells were recovered; detailed analysis
was performed on five of these cells that appeared to be representative
of the full population. Because of the limits on sample size imposed by
the difficulties in serially reconstructing the fine-caliber axons that
arborized extensively over a distance of ~1 cm, the analysis focused
on the identification of major features of organization common to all
injected cells that were not discerned in previous studies with
extracellularly injected tracers.
Spatial distribution of intrinsic associational axons
Previous studies with extracellularly injected anterograde and
retrograde axonal tracers have revealed that intrinsic associational projections in piriform cortex are highly distributed spatially (Haberly and Price, 1978 ; Luskin and Price, 1983 ). However, it cannot
be determined from these studies to what extent this feature reflects
the connections of individual cells as opposed to populations of
neighboring cells, a question of fundamental importance for understanding function as discussed below.
As illustrated in Figures
1-3,
axon branches from single SP cells in PPC extended over a widespread
area that included much of the piriform cortex. Arbors consisted of
local collaterals and a widespread system that could extend from the
olfactory bulb through the entorhinal cortex (Fig. 1). The widespread
system consisted of long association axons that followed relatively
straight paths within piriform cortex, giving rise to a small number of shorter branches at irregular intervals. The local system consisted of
many short branches in addition to the initial portions of long
association fibers.

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Figure 1.
Axon from a single pyramidal cell in layer II of
rat piriform cortex. Note that axon branches extend over nearly the
entire length of the cerebral hemisphere and are widely distributed
within piriform cortex and other olfactory and nonolfactory areas. The
SP cell in posterior piriform cortex was stained by intracellular
injection of biotinylated dextran amine in vivo, and the
axon was reconstructed through serial sections with a computer
microscope system. A, Spatial distribution of axon
branches in surface view. The inset at top
right shows the illustrated portion of the rat brain
(dashed rectangle) and orientation (45° upward
rotation); the hatched area is piriform cortex, and the
shaded area is lateral olfactory tract.
APC, Anterior piriform cortex; PPC,
posterior piriform cortex. B, Depth distribution of
same axon within PPC. View is parallel to layers after 90° rotation;
rostral is at left as in A; branches outside PPC have
been removed; size scale is expanded relative to that in A.
Roman numerals indicate layers: Ib, association
fiber zone in layer I (molecular layer); IIIs, IIId,
superficial and deep portions of layer III; dotted
lines, superficial and deep borders of layer II (compact cell
body layer). Open arrowheads mark branch points for axon
collaterals that ascend to layer I. Open arrows in
A and B indicate cell body; dendritic
tree is not illustrated (Fig. 3). Ant,
Anterior; ctx, cortex; nuc, nucleus;
olfac, olfactory.
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Figure 2.
Association (cortico-cortical) axons from a pair
of neighboring superficial pyramidal cells in posterior piriform
cortex. Note the minimal overlap of the two axonal arbors outside the
~1 mm diameter local collateral region that surrounds SP somata. The
axon drawn in red (Fig. 3, cell 1) is the same as in
Figure 1. The arborizations from the second cell (blue)
in the orbital cortex (top left) and basolateral
amygdala (BLA, oval) are deep to piriform cortex.
The black spot indicates the position of the cell
bodies. The circles at top right denote
typical diameters of pyramidal cell dendritic trees at the depths where
they are contacted by association fibers (proximal apical dendrites in
layer Ib and basal dendrites in layer III). The borders of piriform
cortex and the insular-perirhinal border are indicated by solid
lines; the dashed line outlines the lateral
olfactory tract; the dotted line is the rhinal
sulcus.
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Figure 3.
Photomicrograph of the neighboring pyramidal cells
reconstructed in Figure 2. Arrowheads indicate
axons.
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Comparison of the arborizations of SP cell axons within piriform cortex
with their arbors in other cortical areas revealed a marked difference.
Within piriform cortex, associational axons displayed little tendency
for a clustering of branches outside the local collateral region. In
contrast, as best seen in Figure 2, portions of the same axons in other
cortical areas displayed a clear tendency for restricted "patchy"
concentrations (<500 µm diameter) within otherwise spatially
distributed arbors.
Depth distribution of intrinsic associational axons
Analysis of the depth distribution of axonal arbors in piriform
cortex can provide insight into postsynaptic targets as a consequence
of the laminar segregation of different neuronal elements. Although
depth distributions of intrinsic projections have been studied in
piriform cortex with extracellular tracers (Luskin and Price, 1983 ),
this analysis was repeated for the arbors of intracellularly injected
cells because contributions from nonpyramidal cells cannot be
distinguished in the previous data.
Within piriform cortex, associational projections from SP cells were
concentrated in layer III, with relatively sparse input to layer Ib,
and an intermediate density in layer II (Figs. 1B, 4). Within layer III, axons were most
numerous in its superficial part (layer IIIs) at the depth of basal
dendrites of SP cells, but were also present in its deep part (layer
IIId) and the subjacent endopiriform nucleus where dendrites from deep
pyramidal and nonpyramidal cells predominate (Haberly, 1998 ). In layer
IIId, long associational axons gave rise to collaterals that ascended
to more superficial layers at varying distances from the cell body
(Fig. 1B, arrowheads). Within layer Ib (the deep
portion of layer I from which afferent input is excluded), axons were
concentrated at its deep border at the depth of proximal apical
dendrites. Potential targets within layer II include basal dendrites
(Fig. 5A, arrowheads) and
smaller numbers of apical dendritic processes (associational axons do not synapse on pyramidal somata; Haberly and Behan, 1983 ; Haberly and
Presto, 1986 ).

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Figure 4.
Depth distribution of superficial pyramidal cell
axons in piriform cortex. Histogram shows axon length as a function of
depth for five intracellularly injected cells. En,
Endopiriform nucleus.
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Figure 5.
Dendritic morphology of superficial pyramidal cell
in posterior piriform cortex. A, Top,
Reconstruction in frontal plane (perpendicular to predominant course of
associational axons); bottom, same cell after 90°
rotation. B, Positions of dendrites from same cell at
depths indicated by the dotted lines in A. Black
spots indicate points of intersection of dendrites with
horizontal planes (parallel to surface) at depths of proximal apical,
proximal basal, and distal basal segments where SP cells receive
association fiber synapses. Circles indicate cell body
position, orthogonally projected onto the three horizontal planes.
Diameters of black spots in B correspond
to area that contains ~90% of the dendritic spines (sites of
association fiber synapses). Comparison of dendritic and axonal
morphologies suggests that each SP cell makes a small number of
contacts on a large number of other SP cells; see Results.
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Spatial distribution of boutons
A previous study showed that ~80% of the en passant
boutons that are visualized with the light microscope, and most or all of the stalked boutons give rise to synaptic contacts as determined by
electron microscopy (Haberly and Presto, 1986 ). As a result, it will be
assumed that the distribution of synapses from pyramidal cells in
piriform cortex can be approximated by light microscopic analysis.
Knowledge of this distribution is necessary for assessing the
nature and extent of intrinsic connectivity; for example, despite
an absence of locally exuberant axonal branching, a concentration of
synaptic input onto individual cells or "columns" of cells could be
achieved through appropriate arrangement of boutons on unbranched axons.
Plots of bouton distribution (Fig. 6)
revealed a nonuniform arrangement with both laminar and regional
differences. Mean interbouton intervals for five cells (Table
1) were ~10 µm in layers Ib, II, and
IIIs where pyramidal cell dendrites are the dominant postsynaptic component, and somewhat greater in layer IIId (~14 µm;
p < 0.01 vs layers Ib, II, or IIIs) and the
endopiriform nucleus (~13 µm; p < 0.02 vs layers
Ib or II). This relationship between axonal depth and bouton spacing
was readily apparent on visual examination of labeled axons (Fig.
6B, second panel), although there was
substantial variation at all locations and depths. Irregularly arranged
bouton clusters of varying dimension were observed on axons in both the piriform cortex and adjoining areas (Fig. 6B).
However, there was no hint of any regularity or periodicity in size
or location of such clusters in piriform cortex as observed in
cortical areas with a columnar organization (see Discussion).

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Figure 6.
A, Surface plot of the locations of
putative synaptic boutons for the axons illustrated in Figure 2. Each
dot represents a bouton visualized by light microscopy.
B, Enlargements of regions indicated by
boxes in A. First panel (left) shows
local axon collaterals; second panel shows longer
association (assoc) fibers; upward
arrowheads indicate an axon in layer IIIs with a relatively
high bouton density; downward arrowheads indicate an
axon in layer IIId with a lower density. Third and
fourth panels show boutons in amygdaloid cortex
(AC) and entorhinal cortex (EC).
Oval in A indicates a cluster of boutons
in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), deep to piriform
cortex. IC, Insular cortex; OC, orbital
cortex; OT, olfactory tubercle; PR,
perirhinal cortex.
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Table 1.
Intervals between boutons (mean ± SEM) in different
layers of the posterior piriform cortex and subjacent endopiriform
nucleus (En) derived by random sampling of sections from five
intracellularly injected superficial pyramidal cells
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Distributions of interbouton intervals were also analyzed for axons at
different depths and locations. Figure 7
presents interval histograms from five cells for individual layers of
PPC and the subjacent endopiriform nucleus (Fig. 7A), and
for pooled data (Fig. 7B). The moderately good fit of the
composite histogram by an exponential distribution, which would be
expected for binned intervals between independently placed boutons,
suggests that there is a substantial random component in the
determination of bouton placement. However, there were double peaks at
~2.5 and 6 µm in several individual histograms (Fig. 7A)
and clear differences in the distributions of intervals in different
layers (e.g., peak at much larger intervals in layer IIId), suggesting
that synaptic targeting may be determined by multiple factors.

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Figure 7.
Distribution of interbouton intervals for
association axons in PPC. Data were derived by random sampling of
sections from five injected cells. A, Interval
histograms from individual layers in PPC and the subjacent endopiriform
nucleus (En). IIIs local, Local axon
collaterals in the superficial part of layer III; IIIs
long, long association axons in superficial III.
B, Composite histogram from individual plots.
Dotted line is an exponential distribution with
identical mean. Inset is a histogram of dendritic spine
length for SP cells; mean = 1.21 ± 0.08 µm (SEM);
n = 85.
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Cell targeting
A important question for understanding the nature of information
processing is the extent of interconnectivity between principal cells.
Results from previous morphological studies indicate that most (>90%)
of the boutons on associational axons, outside the dense local
collateral region, synapse on pyramidal cell dendrites (Haberly and
Behan, 1983 ; Luskin and Price, 1983 ; Haberly and Presto, 1986 ). Based
on their large numbers and findings from physiological studies (Haberly
and Bower, 1984 ; Rodriguez and Haberly, 1989 ; Tseng and Haberly, 1989 ;
Ketchum and Haberly, 1993 ), it can be concluded that SP cells are the
predominant source of these dendrites. Therefore, to examine the key
issue of the number of synaptic contacts that each association axon
makes on a given pyramidal cell, morphological features of the
dendritic trees of SP cells were examined in detail.
As illustrated in Figure 5A, the apical and basal dendritic
trees of SP cells consist of a modest number of dendritic branches that
are concentrated in conical volumes. To assess the extent to which
single unbranched axons could contact more than one dendrite from a
given SP cell by chance alone, the positions of dendrites were plotted
in horizontal sections (parallel to the cortical surface) through these
apical and basal dendritic cones. As seen in Figure 5B,
these plots revealed that if an axon contacts one dendrite, the
probability that it will contact a second dendrite from the same cell
is low (estimated as <15%).
An increase in the targeting of multiple dendrites of the same cell
over that expected by chance could be achieved through abrupt, local
changes in axonal or dendritic trajectories. However, dendrites tended
to follow relatively linear trajectories as described earlier for
axons, rather than erratic paths. An increase in multiple targeting
also could be achieved through stalked boutons that might extend to
contact additional dendrites. However, counts revealed that stalked
boutons were present in relatively small numbers (Table
2), and length measurements revealed that
few stalks were longer than 4 µm.
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Table 2.
Relative numbers of en passant and stalked
boutons on association axons from superficial pyramidal cells in
piriform cortex and endopiriform nucleus (En)
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To assess the extent to which axons could make multiple contacts on an
individual dendrite by synapsing on more than one dendritic spine, the
lengths of spine necks were analyzed. This analysis revealed that, in
the frontal plane (perpendicular to the predominant rostrocaudal course
of association axons), ~90% of spines on pyramidal cells are 2
µm from the center lines of dendrites (Fig. 7B, inset). Therefore, if there are extensive multiple contacts on single dendritic
branches, it would be reflected in an excess of interbouton intervals
(4 µm; 2 µm on each side of the shaft center). Inspection of
interval plots (Fig. 7) revealed that, although there was a peak in the
appropriate range, the proportion of total boutons that could be
attributed to this factor was <15%.
Finally, to assess the extent to which more than one branch from the
same axon might converge onto a single SP cell, typical diameters of
dendritic trees (Fig. 5A) were compared with surface plots
of axonal distributions. As seen in Figure 2 (top right, circles), there appeared to be little tendency for neighboring axon collaterals from a given cell to maintain a spacing that would
allow extensive multiple contacts on single pyramidal cells in piriform cortex.
For the two fully reconstructed cells in Figure 2, lower limits for the
number of pyramidal cells contacted were estimated as follows. Within
the PPC where cell bodies were located, cell 1 (Fig. 2, red)
gave rise to 4311 bouton-like swellings and cell 2 (Fig. 2,
blue), 2513. Assuming that 80% of bouton-like swellings make synaptic contacts (Haberly and Presto, 1986 ), 90% of which are on
pyramidal cells (Haberly and Behan, 1983 ), with 10% of cells receiving
input from more than one collateral from a single cell (Fig. 2), 15%
of contacts involving two dendritic branches from the same cell (Fig.
5), and 15% involving two spines from the same dendritic branch (Fig.
7B, inset), it follows that the axon from cell 1 contacted a minimum of ~2000 pyramidal cells in PPC and the axon from
cell 2, a minimum of ~1200 cells.
Degree of overlap in axonal arbors from neighboring cells
To determine if cells in PPC with similar connections are grouped
as observed in cortical areas with a columnar organization, the
arborizations of axons from adjacent pyramidal cells were compared. Two
pairs were studied; one pair was fully reconstructed in three
dimensions with the computer-microscope system (Fig. 2), and selected
regions from the second pair were reconstructed. Cell bodies for both
pairs were in layer II and separated by <20 µm in the horizontal
dimension. Apical and basal dendritic trees of both pairs overlapped
extensively (Fig. 3).
To interpret these data, the assumption was made that if there are
functional "modules" in piriform cortex with dimensions comparable
to neocortical columns (200-500 µm), the probability would be high
that cells separated horizontally by <20 µm would be in the same
rather than adjoining modules. The technical difficulty of staining and
reconstructing adjacent cells limited the analysis to two pairs;
however, the probability that both pairs would have spanned a boundary
between modules, if they exist, would appear to be very low.
Comparison of the axon distribution patterns within piriform cortex for
both pairs of pyramidal cells revealed that despite certain parallels
in course and branching patterns, there was relatively little overlap
in the positions of individual axon branches outside the local
collateral region (Fig. 2). As seen by comparing the dimensions of
typical pyramidal cell dendritic trees (Fig. 2, top right,
circles) with the spaces between axon branches from the
neighboring cells in Figure 2, there were few sites in which a single
cell in piriform cortex could have received input from both of these
cells. Furthermore, within piriform cortex there were no obvious
regions of concentrated overlap between the arbors from both cells in a
pair with dimensions comparable to columns in neocortex (hundreds of micrometers).
Degree of divergence of output projections
The final question investigated was the degree to which
projections from piriform cortex to other cortical areas are derived from different populations of pyramidal cells as opposed to overlapping populations of cells that have branched axons.
Examination of injected cells revealed that axons from all SP cells
branched extensively and arborized in multiple cortical areas. The two
neighboring cells in Figure 2 together projected to most other
olfactory areas (olfactory tubercle, anterior olfactory nucleus, and
olfactory bulb), to amygdaloid cortex and nuclei, prefrontal cortex
(agranular insula and orbital cortex), entorhinal cortex, and
perirhinal cortex. For cell 1 (red), 4670 of the total of
9471 boutons (49%), and for cell 2 (blue), 2318 of 4902 (47%), were in areas outside of piriform cortex.
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DISCUSSION |
New features of neuronal circuitry
The results have revealed that axons from single SP cells in PPC
are highly branched and distributed over an area that can encompass
virtually an entire cerebral hemisphere. A particularly intriguing
feature is that axons from individual cells are not only widely
distributed in piriform cortex, but also arborize extensively in other
cortical areas with diverse functional roles including those related to
behavior, cognition, emotion, and memory (Fig.
8).

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Figure 8.
Summary of intrinsic and extrinsic cortical
connections of superficial pyramidal cells in PPC. Each SP cell
(numbered circles) has an extensively branching axon
that contacts a large number of other SP cells in piriform cortex at
disparate locations (flat end bars are synapses).
Axons from each cell also arborize in adjoining cortical areas,
including those involved in the highest order brain functions. Axonal
branches from each cell extend to most, but not all of the target areas
(e.g., cell 1 projects to all areas with the exception
of amygdaloid cortex; cell 2 does not project to the
olfactory bulb or perirhinal cortex). Reciprocal projections from
target areas are indicated by arrows. Connections with
cortical areas in the olfactory peduncle are not illustrated.
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Within piriform cortex, associational axons typically followed rather
linear trajectories, and regions of exuberant branching were not
observed. Boutons were distributed over the entire extents of axons
rather than limited to specialized terminal regions. Although boutons
were irregularly arranged with occasional regions of higher
concentration, such regions displayed no apparent regularity in size or
periodicity in location. Furthermore, projections from neighboring cell
pairs did not converge within restricted regions. Although a definitive
argument cannot be made on the basis of negative evidence, the present
findings suggest that, as illustrated in Figure
9A, if there is a modular
grouping of cells with similar connections in PPC, it would have to be
irregular and overlapping in nature (A2), quite unlike the
columnar organization in other primary sensory areas (A1).
Finally, comparison of axon branching patterns and bouton distributions
relative to dendritic morphologies suggests that each SP cell makes a
small number of synapses on a very large number of other pyramidal
cells (>1000).

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|
Figure 9.
Alternative schemes for modular organization
(A), and spatially distributed associational
connections (B) in PPC. A1,
Modular organization as observed in primary neocortical areas where
discrete columns of cells defined by response properties and
connections are regular in size and arrangement, and do not overlap.
A2, Organization in which cells with similar response
properties are spatially grouped, but in an irregular overlapping
manner. B1, Distributed connectivity in which each cell
projects to a specific spot, but neighboring cells project to spatially
disparate spots. B2, Distributed connectivity in which
individual cells have highly branched, spatially divergent axons.
|
|
Arborization patterns of SP axons were clearly different in piriform
cortex and in cortical areas outside piriform cortex. Rather than an
impression of relative uniformity as in PPC, there was a clear tendency
for irregular patchy arborization in prefrontal, amygdaloid, and
entorhinal cortex, as well as the olfactory tubercle. Another rather
striking feature was that such patches from neighboring pairs of SP
cells displayed little tendency for overlap.
Limitations
This study was performed on SP cells because they are the
predominant principal cell population in piriform cortex and the primary source of association axons. Although the operation of this
system cannot be understood without comparable findings for other cell
types, the findings from SP cells alone have revealed new features of
organization with potential functional significance.
An important issue is the extent to which the findings from the
necessarily small sample of injected SP cells are representative of the
full population. A number of factors support a representative nature.
First, results of previous studies with a wide variety of morphological
and physiological techniques suggest that SP cells are a rather
homogeneous population (Haberly, 1998 ). Second, observations from small
extracellular injections of axonal tracers (D. M. G. Johnson,
unpublished observations) were consistent with the single cell data.
Third, the interpretations discussed below are based on robust features
that were apparent in all cells.
A final issue is the extent to which findings for PPC apply to other
parts of piriform cortex. Although findings from extracellular injections have revealed general similarities between subdivisions (Luskin and Price, 1983 ), there could be substantial differences that
would not be apparent in such population level studies.
Implications for information processing and olfaction
For understanding functions of piriform cortex it is important to
consider how information is represented in the OB. The rat OB contains
~2000 glomeruli, each one of which receives converging input from
receptor neurons that express a single olfactory receptor (Buck, 1999 ).
Because single molecules can activate many different receptors (Malnic
et al., 1999 ), the olfactory code consists of spatially distributed
combinations of active glomeruli (Sharp et al., 1975 ; Shepherd, 1994 ;
Buck, 1999 ; Rubin and Katz, 1999 ). It would appear, therefore, that one
cortical level function must be a linking of activity in spatially
distributed OB neurons with particular odors, as defined by their
significance to the animal. Such correlation would require a
convergence of information encoded by cells in different parts of the
OB, as well as input from areas that represent contextual information.
Studies in behaving rats have shown that individual cells in piriform
cortex display "combinatorial" responses to multiple odor
qualities, as well as robust responses to contextual stimuli such as
the ready light for discrimination trials (Schoenbaum and Eichenbaum,
1995 ). Such responses are consistent with the observed distributed
connections within piriform cortex and between piriform cortex and
higher order areas that encode information from other modalities. The
presence of extensive return projections from most of the higher order
areas to which it projects (Fig. 8) (Haberly, 1998 ), together with the
complex nature of its cellular responses, suggest that rather than
unidirectionally supplying these areas with olfactory information, the
piriform cortex interacts with them during the mediation of
olfactory-guided behavior.
A key issue is the extent to which the complex cellular responses in
piriform cortex are established through specific connections as opposed
to learning-related adjustments in synaptic strengths. If cells of a
given type in PPC are spatially dispersed rather than grouped, it must
be asked if it is developmentally feasible for cells, especially those
with highly branched axons, to be connected in a specific manner. Our
finding of relatively linear axon trajectories and irregular bouton
distributions suggests one possibility: rather than being established
through selective axon pathfinding as for the projection from receptor
neurons to OB glomeruli (Mombaerts et al., 1996 ), axons in PPC
establish synapses with neurons of appropriate type that are
encountered throughout their paths. However, the results are also
consistent with a role of "parallel-distributed" processes based on
adjustments in synaptic strength (Hertz et al., 1991 ) instead of, or in
addition to, specific axonal connections. Thus, the highly branched,
spatially distributed axons from individual cells (Fig. 9B)
that make a small number of synapses on a large number of neurons are
reminiscent of the architectures of artificial "neural networks"
that can perform complex pattern analysis.
Comparison to other primary sensory areas
The term "primary sensory" has been applied to piriform cortex
and certain areas in neocortex because they are the dominant receiving
areas for sensory input. However, despite the parallel in this defining
characteristic, the features of intracortical connections
visualized in this study have little in common with those in
primary sensory areas for nonchemical senses (Gilbert and
Wiesel, 1983 ; Chapin et al., 1987 ; Zeki and Shipp, 1988 ;
Malach, 1989 , 1994 ; Burkhalter and Charles, 1990 ; Ojima et al., 1991 ; Kaas, 1993 ; Romanski and LeDoux, 1993 ; Young et al., 1994 ;
Pandya, 1995 ; Fitzpatrick, 1996 ; Sonty and Juniano, 1997 ; Kaas et
al., 1999 ). Primary visual (V1), auditory (A1), and somatosensory (S1) areas in diverse species including the rat have discrete columnar organizations so that intrinsic associational axons arborize in periodic patches that we did not observe in PPC. Second, with the
exception of projections from S1 to prefrontal cortex that are thought
to be involved in feeding (Price, 1999 ), these other primary areas lack
direct projections to the higher order areas that receive extensive
input from PPC (Fig. 8). Third, in contrast to the branching
projections from single pyramidal cells in PPC to multiple areas,
efferents from V1 to each of its cortical targets arise from
independent sets of pyramidal cells that encode different aspects of
visual stimuli. This means that information on form, color, motion, and
other features is routed to different areas, whereas PPC provides a
broad readout from a high proportion of its cells to each downstream
area. Limited data for A1 and S1 support a similar principle for these systems.
Comparison to sensory association cortex
In view of their combinatorial responses to odor as well as to
task-related stimuli, cells in piriform cortex are reminiscent of those
in "sensory association" areas of neocortex (Felleman and Van
Essen, 1991 ). Consequently, one may ask whether there are parallels in
connectivity that may contribute to the functional similarities. Data
for most higher order sensory areas (Pritzel and Markowitsch, 1981 ;
Burwell and Amaral, 1998 ; McDonald, 1998 ) are inadequate for detailed
comparison; however, relevant features have been examined in the
inferotemporal (IT) cortex where cells encode complex visual form.
Three similarities are apparent: (1) cells in IT project to prefrontal,
amygdaloid, entorhinal, and perirhinal cortex (Pritzel and Markowitsch,
1981 ; Ottersen, 1982 ; Cheng et al., 1997 ; Burwell and Amaral,
1998 ); (2) in contrast to primary areas, individual cells in IT
can project to more than one area (Cheng et al., 1997 ); (3) there is no
discernable topographical order in anterior IT (area TE) in
relationship to other cortical areas (Tanaka, 1997a ), as in PPC.
Although there is a columnar organization in IT and a corresponding
patchiness in connections that clearly differs from PPC (Tanaka,
1997b ), optical imaging experiments have revealed a functional
overlap between columns and a nonselective response from >90% of the
area of TE to all complex visual forms (Wang et al., 1998 ), suggesting
that some form of spatially distributed processing is performed
(Higuchi and Miyashita, 1996 ; Saleem and Tanaka, 1996 ).
Relationship to findings for OB
If piriform cortex lacks a systematic modular organization and
associated spatially ordered connections as in other primary areas,
recent findings revealing such features in the OB are of particular
interest. In addition to the morphological studies cited earlier,
physiological studies have shown that glomeruli and associated neurons
in the OB are spatially ordered with respect to stimulus parameters
(Mori and Yoshihara, 1995 ; Johnson et al., 1999 ) and have provided
evidence that response specificities to molecular features are enhanced
through interactions between glomeruli (Yokoi et al., 1995 ). Thus, it
can be proposed that the OB performs "feature extraction"
operations like those performed by primary areas in other systems,
whereas piriform cortex synthesizes these features and links them with
other brain functions, analogous to association areas in other systems.
 |
FOOTNOTES |
Received Feb. 1, 2000; revised June 21, 2000; accepted June 28, 2000.
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grant DC03271
from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. We thank Joshua Chover for consultations regarding quantitative interpretations and Sherry Feig, Ray Guillery, and Philip
Smith for critical reading.
Correspondence should be addressed to Lewis Haberly, Department of
Anatomy, University of Wisconsin, 1300 University Avenue, Madison, WI
53706. E-mail: lhaberly{at}facstaff.wisc.edu.
 |
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