Zebrafish as a neurogenetic model system depends on the correct neuroanatomical understanding of its brain organization. Here, we address the unresolved question regarding a possible zebrafish homologue of the dorsal pallial division, the region that in mammals gives rise to the isocortex. Analyzing the distributions of nicotine adenine dinucleotide phosphate diphorase (NADPHd) activity and parvalbumin in the anterior zebrafish telencephalon, we show that against previous assumptions the central (Dc) zone possesses its own germinative region in the dorsal proliferative zone. We define the central (Dc) zone as topologically corresponding to the dorsal pallial division of other vertebrates (mammalian isocortex). In addition, we confirm through BrdU-labeling experiments that the posterior (Dp) zone is formed by radial migration and homologous to the mammalian piriform cortex. Based on our results, we propose a new developmental and organizational model of the zebrafish pallium-one which is the result of a complex outward-inward folding.
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