Von Economo Neuron

A neurons cell type of the human nervous system.

Large spindle-shaped projection neuron enriched in layer 5 of anterior cingulate and fronto-insular cortex; notable for links to social-emotional/salience processing and selective loss in frontotemporal dementia. Not human-specific (also great apes, some cetaceans and elephants).

Function

Specialized projection neurons of anterior cingulate / frontoinsular cortex, likely involved in salience, interoceptive/autonomic and social-emotional network processing; selective vulnerability in disorders of social behaviour supports this, but causal function remains unresolved ('intuition / rapid decision-making' is over-speculative).

Morphology

Large, elongated spindle-shaped (bipolar) soma with single thick apical and basal dendrite, limited branching

Specification

  • Neurotransmitter: Glutamate (likely glutamatergic; classified as extratelencephalic-projecting glutamatergic cortical neuron in Cell Ontology)
  • Receptors: No defining receptor; earlier dopamine/serotonin associations are contested/non-defining
  • Location: Layer 5 (Vb) of anterior cingulate and frontoinsular cortex; also medial frontopolar cortex
  • Projections: Projection (extratelencephalic-projecting) neurons; precise targets not fully mapped
  • Firing: Unknown / not well characterized
  • Markers: No universally accepted molecular marker - morphology (large spindle soma) + location (ACC/frontoinsular layer 5) are the primary identifiers. Candidate enriched: POU3F1/POU3F2, BMP3, ITGA4 (Cell Ontology); NMB, GABRQ (earlier studies). DISC1 removed (not reliable).
  • Developmental origin: Pallium
  • Disease: Selectively lost early in behavioural-variant frontotemporal dementia; reduced in agenesis of the corpus callosum. (No significant loss found in Alzheimer's cases; autism link hypothesized but not robust.)
  • Cell Ontology: CL:4030039

References

  1. Nimchinsky EA, Gilissen E, Allman JM, Perl DP, Erwin JM, & Hof PR (1999). A neuronal morphologic type unique to humans and great apes.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 96 PMID 10220455
  2. Allman JM et al. (2011). The von Economo neurons in the frontoinsular and anterior cingulate cortex.. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1225 PMID 21534993
  3. Kaufman JA et al. (2008). Selective reduction of Von Economo neuron number in agenesis of the corpus callosum.. Acta neuropathologica 116 PMID 18815797

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