In neuroanatomy and neuroembryology, a ganglionic eminence (GE) is a transitory brain structure that guides cell and axon migration. It is present in the embryonic and fetal stages of neural development found between the thalamus and caudate nucleus. The eminences are found in the ventral ventricular zone of the telencephalon, where they facilitate tangential cell migration during embryonic development. Tangential migration does not involve interactions with radial glial cells, instead the interneurons migrate perpendicularly through the radial glial cells to reach their final location. The characteristics and function of the cells that follow the tangential migration pathway seem to be closely related to the location and precise timing of their production. GABAergic interneurons migrate tangentially, and the GEs contribute significantly to building up the GABAergic cortical cell population. Another structure that the GEs contribute to is the basal ganglia. The GEs also guide the axons growing from the thalamus into the cortex and vice versa. In humans, the GEs disappear by one year of age. During development, neuronal migration continues until the extinction of the germ layer, at which point the remnants from the germ layer make up the eminences.
Read more about Ganglionic Eminence: Categorization, Cell Migration, Associated Disorders, Further Research
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“Our ancestors were savages. The story of Romulus and Remus being suckled by a wolf is not a meaningless fable. The founders of every state which has risen to eminence have drawn their nourishment and vigor from a similar wild source. It was because the children of the Empire were not suckled by the wolf that they were conquered and displaced by the children of the northern forests who were.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)