A developmental ontology for the mammalian brain based on the prosomeric model

An ontologically consistent MRI-based atlas of the mouse diencephalon

“…In response to this limitation, we have endeavoured to create a comprehensive probabilistic atlas of the C57BL/6J mouse diencephalon. A feature of this atlas is that it is consistent with contemporary views on mammalian brain ontology based on developmental gene expression (Puelles et al, 2013;Watson et al, 2017).…”

“…The diencephalon was segmented into major regions and subregions using the parcellation scheme of Paxinos and Franklin (2013) and following the ontology outlined by Puelles et al (2013). In a few cases our parcellation was more conservative than in the atlas, because in some cases the boundaries of sub-regions could not be clearly defined.…”

“…As noted in the introduction, the subdivision of the diencephalon in this paper is based on recent evidence from developmental gene expression (Puelles et al, 2013). The hierarchical classification of brain structures is known as an ontology, and the most reliable current ontology is one based on developmental gene expression.…”

“…These ontologies did not take into account the insights derived from developmental gene expression and so it contained many errors. The proper classification of brain structures using developmental gene expression is not just an academic exercise, since the territories defined by gene expression each determine the anatomical and physiological characteristics of the component nuclei (Puelles et al, 2013). If these developmental gene expression territories are ignored, there is a risk that future studies will misinterpret anatomical and functional relationships between nuclei.…”

“…The traditional concept of the diencephalon included the thalamus, hypothalamus, subthalamus, and epithalamus; however, recent studies of developmental gene expression have challenged this assembly (Puelles et al, 2013;Watson et al, 2017), and the revised view of the diencephalon excludes the hypothalamus and the subthalamic nucleus. The reason for this is that the hypothalamus (of which the subthalamic nucleus is a part) is a complete segment of the forebrain, with alar and basal components, and completely distinct from the remainder of the diencephalon.…”