Mesocortex (also called juxtallocortex) is the transitional areas of the

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. The cerebral cortex mostly consists of the six-layered neocortex, with just 10% consisting o ...

, formed at borders between true isocortex and true

allocortex The allocortex or heterogenetic cortex, and neocortex are the two types of cerebral cortex in the brain. The allocortex is the much smaller area of cortex taking up just 10 %, the neocortex takes up the remaining 90 %. It is characterized by havi ...

(either

paleocortex In anatomy of animals, the paleocortex, or paleopallium, is a region within the telencephalon in the vertebrate brain. This type of cortical tissue consists of three cortical laminae (layers of neuronal cell bodies). In comparison, the neocortex ...

or archicortex). Parts of mesocortex that lie closer to the true isocortex and have more resemblance to the isocortex in their

cytoarchitectonics Cytoarchitecture (Greek '' κύτος''= "cell" + '' ἀρχιτεκτονική''= "architecture"), also known as cytoarchitectonics, is the study of the cellular composition of the central nervous system's tissues under the microscope. Cytoarchi ...

and

histology Histology, also known as microscopic anatomy or microanatomy, is the branch of biology which studies the microscopic anatomy of biological tissues. Histology is the microscopic counterpart to gross anatomy, which looks at larger structures vi ...

, are called proisocortex. Parts of mesocortex that lie closer to the true allocortex and have more resemblance to the allocortex in their cytoarchitectonics and histology, are called periallocortex ( peripaleocortex or periarchicortex depending on the allocortex type with which a given area of isocortex borders). Mesocortex is essentially the same as paralimbic cortex, as all those mesocortical transitional areas are found exclusively in paralimbic region, and vice versa - all the paralimbic region consists of cortex that is transitional by its nature (in its embryonic and phylogenetic origins) and by its histological structure and cytoarchitectonics. But the term "mesocortex" represents a concept that is different from the concept behind the term "paralimbic cortex". The mesocortex is defined on the basis of its cytoarchitectonics and histology, while the paralimbic cortex is the cortical areas that lie close to the subcortical limbic structures or over them. There was also a hypothesis that the cortex should be viewed as concentric rings of allocortex, mesocortex (periallocortex and proisocortex) and true isocortex.Reep R. Relationship between prefrontal and limbic cortex: a comparative anatomical review. Brain Behav Evol. 1984;25(1):5-80.

References

{{Authority control Neuroanatomy Cerebrum

See also

References