The most superficial layer of the cortex is the molecular or plexiform layer. It has a dense network of tangentially oriented fibers and cells made of axons of martinotti cells and stellate cells, as well as apical dendrites of pyramidal cells. Apical dendrites from pyramidal cells in the external granular layer and more prominently the external pyramidal layer project into the molecular layer. There are also in the plexiform layer GABAergic synaptic connections between the apical dendrites of granular cells and the basal dendrites of the tufted cells and mitral cells.