The Mystery of the Claustrum, the Front Wall of the Brain: From Early Anatomic Discovery to Modern Insights.
World neurosurgery May 8, 2025 Demet Evleksiz, Abuzer Gungor, Gardashkhan Karımzada et al. 4 citations
The claustrum, a thin sheet of gray matter between the insular cortex and putamen, has been studied for centuries. Its first known depiction appeared in Vicq d'Azyr's work (1786), and it was formally named vormauer (claustrum) by Burdach (1822). Later terms included N. taeniaeformis (Arnold, 1838) and avant-mur (Dejerine, 1895). Genetic evidence from Puelles (2017, 2022) distinguishes it from adjacent structures. Crick and Koch (2005) proposed it integrates sensory information for consciousness, but Yaşargil's neurosurgical observations show that tumor invasion or damage to the claustrum during insular glioma surgery does not impair consciousness, challenging that role. The review synthesizes historical and contemporary perspectives, highlighting the claustrum's debated function and relevance in neuroscience and neurosurgery.