Cortical minicolumn

[2][3] Minicolumns comprise perhaps 80–120 neurons, except in the primate primary visual cortex (V1), where there are typically more than twice the number.

[2] Minicolumns grow from progenitor cells within the embryo and contain neurons within multiple layers (2–6) of the cortex.

[6][2][8] Jones[7] describes a variety of observations that may be interpreted as mini- or micro-columns and gives example numbers from 11 to 142 neurons per minicolumn.

Johansson and Lansner[4] do a similar calculation and arrive at 36 μm (p51, last para).

Downwards projecting axons in minicolumns are ≈10 μm in diameter, periodicity and density similar to those within the cortex, but not necessarily coincident.