Parcellation scheme of rat iso- and proisocortical areas in Waxholm space (v3)

The present dataset provides a three-dimensional (3D) map of the rat iso- and proisocortex anchored in the standardized coordinate system of the Waxholm rat brain space. The parcellation encompasses 53 distinct areas and is the result of a multimodal analysis based on the heterogeneous regional and laminar distribution patterns of cell bodies and of muscarinic acetylcholine M2 receptors visualized in 2D sections. The receptor autoradiographs of a rat brain serially sectioned in the coronal plane were 3D reconstructed and anchored in Waxholm space. The ensuing transformation matrices were then applied to the delineations of the identified areas on the corresponding 2D autoradiographs, resulting in the registration of the location and extent of each area to the 3D reference Waxholm Space of the rat brain. This novel parcellation scheme of the rat iso- and proisocortical areas provides a high-resolution reference resource for the architectonically informed analysis of in vivo data and computational modelling approaches of the rat brain. As a dynamic framework, the Waxholm Rat Brain Atlas can be expanded by data of e.g., further neurotransmitter receptor types and brain regions.