Development of cricket mushroom bodies

Mushroom bodies are recognized as a multimodal integrator for sensorial stimuli. The present study analyzes cricket mushroom body development from embryogenesis to adulthood. In the house cricket, Kenyon cells were born from a group of neuroblasts located at the apex of mushroom bodies. Our results demonstrate the sequential generation of Kenyon cells: The more external they are, the earlier they were produced. BrdU treatment on day 8 (57% stage) of embryonic life results, at the adult stage, in the labelling of the large Kenyon cells at the periphery of the mushroom body cortex. These cells have specific projections into the posterior calyx, the gamma lobe, and an enlargement at the inner part of the vertical lobe; they represent a part of mushroom bodies of strictly embryonic origin. The small Kenyon cells were formed from day 9 (65% stage) of the embryonic stage onward, and new interneurons are produced throughout the entire life of the insect. They send their projections into the anterior calyx and into the vertical and medial lobes. Mushroom body development of Acheta should be considered as a primitive template, and cross‐taxonomic comparisons of the mushroom body development underscore the precocious origin of the gamma lobe. As a result of continuous neurogenesis, cricket mushroom bodies undergo remodeling throughout life, laying the foundation for future studies of the functional role of this developmental plasticity. J. Comp. Neurol. 452:215–227, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.