This project outlines an experimental neuroanatomical investigation on the monkey designed to assess the cortical and subcortical connectivity of the cingulate cortex. In close articulation with other components of the Program, the new effort represents a shift from our focus on the temporal lobe and issues pertaining to memory. We have set the stage for this shift with studies linking temporal structures to anterior cingulate cortices, and defining the interface between the posterior parahippocampal gyrus and the perisplenial cortices. In the forthcoming funding period we plan to carry out a number of studies aimed at elucidating, in greater detail than what is currently available, the connectivity of the cingulate cortex, a major function of which is the processing of emotion and feeling. These investigations will test the hypothesis that varied subdivisions of the cingulate cortex have distinct patterns of connectivity with subcortical an cortical structures. In fact, there is classic evidence that the primate cingulate cortex consists of cytoarchitectonically distinct subdivisions with other brain regions. This gap seriously limits the formulation of hypothesis in the study of cognition and emotion and the interpretation of current experimental results.
Our aim i s to bridge this gap by assessing the efferent and afferent connections of each cingulate subdivisions in the monkey using multiple injections of anterograde and retrograde tracers. Particular attention will be paid to subcortical connections since they have been sparsely studied in primates. Additionally, our data will reveal in detail the nature of intracingualte connectivity. The results of our proposed studies will provide a basis for understanding the neuroanatomical correlates of neurological conditions that have altered emotional states as salient clinical manifestations, and will aid in updating and extending theoretical formulations concerning the brain systems underlying complex cognition and behavior in humans, especially emotional processing and decision making. Our new direction is of direct relevance to other projects in the Program which deal with emotion, decision making and development (projects 1, 4 and 5).
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