Fetal neocortical block grafts placed into newborn recipients are able to exchange axonal projections with the host central nervous system, as shown in several previous experiments. The present study examined the connectivity of fetal neocortical block transplants placed into the excitotoxically ablated cortex of adult rats. Young adult rats received injections of the excitotoxic amino acid N-methyl-D-aspartate into the sensorimotor cortex area 1 week prior to receiving a fetal (E14-15) neocortical transplant. Afferent and efferent connections of these grafts were examined 3-6 months after transplantation by injecting the transplants with the fluorescent retrograde tracers fast blue and diamidino yellow or with the anterograde tracer Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin. Retrogradely labeled neurons were observed within several host brain regions including the ipsilateral neocortex, several thalamic nuclei, subcortical areas such as claustrum and lateral hypothalamus, nucleus basalis, dorsal raphe nuclei and locus coeruleus. Fibers labeled with Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin were found extending throughout the transplants, but with rare exceptions fibers were not observed within the host brain. The experiments showed that neocortical block grafts placed into the excitotoxically ablated neocortex receive afferent input from areas in the host brain that normally innervate the sensorimotor cortex. The extensive Phaseolus vulgaris leucoagglutinin-positive axonal labeling found within the grafts demonstrated the ability of the grafted neurons to establish extensive intrinsic graft connections.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)