Cortical cells obtained from rat embryos (ED14 to ED20) were implanted in various regions of rat brain and the presence of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-, neuropeptide Y (NPY)- and Met-enkephalin (ENK)-immunoreactive neurons within the grafts were tested using an immunohistochemical approach. TH-like immunoreactive (TH-LI) neurons were present within the implants obtained from ED14, but not ED18 or ED20, embryos up to 10 months post-implantation and their presence was not dependent on the age of the host (adult or neonate) at the time of implantation. Furthermore, the density of such cells varied with the site of implantation, being the highest in the dorsomedial corner of the striatum. This distorted development seems to affect also other cell populations, such as NPY-LI neurons which could be observed within the implants in a density much higher than that found in the normal cortex and which presented generally a rather immature morphology. It has been described that the rat cortex contains TH-LI neurons only during a limited period of development. The survival of such neurons within intracerebral grafts of cortical tissue indicates that their disappearance during normal cortical development is dependent upon environmental cues. The survival of TH-LI cells in grafts implanted to neonatal hosts suggests that these cues are not some humoral factors appearing postnatally. On the other hand, the present observations are compatible with several other hypothesis concerning the nature of such cues: humoral factors present during the late embryonic period, signals dependent on neuronal connectivities (input and/or outputs) established during embryonic or postnatal life.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)