Species-specific distributions of tyrosine hydroxylase–immunoreactive neurons in the prefrontal cortex of anthropoid primates

Abstract

In this study, we assessed the distribution of cortical neurons immunoreactive for tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in prefrontal cortical regions of humans and nonhuman primate species. Immunohistochemical methods were used to visualize TH-immunoreactive (TH-ir) neurons in areas 9 (dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) and 32 (anterior paracingulate cortex). The study sample included humans, great apes (chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, orangutan), one lesser ape (siamang), and Old World monkeys (golden guenon, patas monkey, olive baboon, moor macaque, black and white colobus, and François' langur). The percentage of neurons within the cortex expressing TH was quantified using computer-assisted stereology. TH-ir neurons were present in layers V and VI and the subjacent white matter in each of the Old World monkey species, the siamang, and in humans. TH-ir cells were also occasionally observed in layer III of human, siamang, baboon, colobus, and François' langur cortex. Cortical cells expressing TH were notably absent in each of the great ape species. Quantitative analyses did not reveal a phylogenetic trend for percentage of TH-ir neurons in these cortical areas among species. Interestingly, humans and monkey species exhibited a bilaminar pattern of TH-ir axon distributions within prefrontal regions, with layers I-II and layers V-VI having the densest contingent of axons. In contrast, the great apes had a different pattern of laminar innervation, with a remarkably denser distribution of TH-ir axons within layer III. It is possible that the catecholaminergic afferent input to layer III in chimpanzees and other great apes covaries with loss of TH-ir cells within the cortical mantle.