The ontogeny of somatostatin receptors in the rat brain has been studied by both membrane binding assays and in vitro receptor autoradiographic techniques. High levels of somatostatin binding sites were detected in brain of 15-day-old fetuses (E15). The pharmacological characterization of somatostatin binding sites and the regulatory effect of GTP on somatostatin binding at E15 suggest that somatostatin recognition sites correspond to authentic receptors. The values of maximal binding showed important variations throughout pre- and postnatal development. Globally, a marked increase in the total binding capacity was observed between E15 and postnatal day 8 (P8), with a transient fall at birth and P1. After P8, the concentration of somatostatin receptors progressively decreased and the weaning imposed at P21 accentuated the decline of receptor concentration. Although the density of somatostatin binding sites varied considerably, KD values did not change during brain development. Autoradiographic studies showed marked differences in the distribution of somatostatin receptors during ontogenesis. In the cortex, the cortical plate and the subplate zone appeared to contain high densities of binding sites from E15 to P1. However, the cortical layer which exhibited the higher labelling was the intermediate zone, located just beneath the subplate zone. On the contrary, the germinal epithelium bordering the lateral ventricle appeared virtually devoid of somatostatin binding sites. This laminar distribution of binding sites in the cortex disappeared from P4 to P8, in coincidence with the evolution of the underlying histological organization. At these stages, a homogeneous distribution was observed in almost all cortical layers, contrasting with the distribution of somatostatin receptors in the adult, which was restricted to layers IV-VI. In the cerebellar cortex, autoradiographic labelling was first seen at E15. After birth, the density of somatostatin receptors increased dramatically between P4 and P13, while, at P23, the labelling vanished in most lobes of the cerebellum. Taken together, these results show the early appearance of somatostatin receptors in the rat brain. The high density of somatostatin receptors observed in proliferative or pre-migratory areas suggests that somatostatin may be an important factor involved in the organization of the central nervous system.