42 research outputs found
The types of neurones in the neostriatum of the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus): Golgi and Kl眉ver-Barrera studies
The Golgi technique stain was used to reveal the cellular structure of the neostriatum (nucleus caudatus and putamen) in the guinea pig. The computerised reconstructions were made from Golgi impregnated neurones. On the basis of various criteria, 4 types of neurones were distinguished in the guinea pig neostriatum:
1. The rounded neurones (most numerous) with 5–8 thin dendritic trunks;
2. The triangular nerve cells with 3 thick dendritic trunks;
3. Two types of multipolar neurones differing in dendritic arborisation pattern with 4–6 and 7–9 primary dendrites, respectively.
4. The pear-shaped cells, which divide into two distinctly different subpopulations
A comparative study of the mammalian amygdala: a Golgi study of the basolateral amygdala
The lateral (LA), basolateral (BL) and basomedial (BM) amygdaloid nuclei were
compared in the guinea pig (Cavia porcellus), rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) fox
(Vulpes vulpes) and pig (Sus scrofa) by using the Golgi techniques. The interspecific
comparisons of the individual basolateral nuclei have shown that the neuronal
structure in each of them is extremely stable and remains almost unchanged
in the series of animals studied. The only difference is the size of the basolateral
neurons, which increases with the increasing size of the brain. Moreover, the
intraspecific comparisons revealed that in all the animals studied LA, BL and BM
form a fairly homogenous mass of cells in which similar cell types are present.
The most numerous neurons in all basolateral nuclei are the spiny cells that often
show a pyramidal or semi-pyramidal appearance (the Type I cells). Many of these
have conical cell bodies and easily recognisable "apical" and "basal" dendrites.
The Type II neurons are the most common variety of non-pyramidal cell and have
round cell bodies and smooth or sparsely spined dendrites. The axons of these
cells often form a dense terminal field that remains in the vicinity of the parent
soma. The Type III cells, which are only occasionally seen, are small spine-sparse
neurogliaform neurons with a few extremely delicate beaded dendrites and
a poorly branching local axon. These neurons were only located in LA and BL
A morphometric study of the amygdala in the common shrew
The characteristic features of the common shrew amygdala (CA), as shown by
volumetric comparisons of the individual nuclei, are the poor development of
the lateral (LA) and basomedial (BM) nuclei as well as the particularly strong
formation of the basolateral (BL) and lateral olfactory tract (NLOT) nuclei. The
central (CE), cortical (CO) and medial (ME) nuclei are also well organised in this
species. All these features are even more distinctly visible when the total number
of neurons in the nuclei referred to are compared. A comparison of the
densities of neurons in the individual nuclei with the mean numerical density of
cells in the CA indicates that there are the 3 different regions within the common
shrew’s CA. The densities of neurons in the LA, BL, and BM are significantly
lower than the mean density of cells in the CA (p < 0.05). In the CE this value
does not differ from the mean (p > 0.05). In the CO, ME and NLOT the density
values are significantly higher than the mean (p < 0.05). Furthermore, a similar
division of the shrew’s CA can, to some extent, be performed using the size
parameters of the amygdaloid neurons as a marker. Interestingly, the large neurons
populate less densely organised CA areas like the LA, BL and BM, whereas
the small cells populate the ME and NLOT, where the neurons are densely arranged.
The CE and CO occupy intermediate positions, with the neurons similar
in size to the mean for the shrew’s CA
The neuronal structure of the red nucleus in newborn guinea pigs
The preparations, stained according to the Nissl and Kl眉ver-Barrera methods,
were used to describe the topography and morphology of the red nucleus (RN)
as well as the structure of the rubral perikarya in newborn (P0) guinea pigs. The Golgi impregnated preparations were used to distinguish types of neurons. RN is a uniform cell group and has the length from 740 to 860 µm. The Nissl stained perikarya were classified into three categories: big, medium-sized and small (A, B, C, respectively). The big perikarya, which contain a lot of tigroidal
substance, were mainly observed at the caudal and ventral portions of RN. The
small perikarya often have multiple nucleoli. The impregnated neurons were
classified into 5 types: 1 - large, aspiny, rich-arborised multipolar cells, 2 - large and medium sized, spiny, rich-arborised fusiform or pear-shaped cells, 3 - medium-sized, spiny, rich-arborised rounded cells, 4 - medium-sized, spiny, richarborised
bipolar cells, 5 - small and single medium-sized cells. The 5th type constitutes a heterogeneous population and also has neurons in different developmental stages. Intraspecies variations concerning both the length of RN and a number of the triangular perikarya of the red nucleus were observed in the examined guinea pigs
The cytoarchitectonic and neuronal structure of the red nucleus in guinea pig: Nissl and Golgi studies
The present studies were carried out on the brains of adult guinea pigs, Dunkin-Hartley strain. On the basis of preparations, they were stained according to the Nissl and the Kl眉ver-Barrera method's; a short description of the cytoarchitectonics and the characteristics of the rubral cells were written. The red nucleus (RN) of the guinea pig is 1.2 mm in length. Three cellular parts in RN, and three classes (A, B, C) of the rubral cells were distinguished. Taking into consideration the predominant cell size, RN was divided into magnocellular part (RNm), parvocellular part (RNp) and intermediate part (RNi). On the basis of Golgi impregnated preparations four neuronal types (I, II, III, IV) were distinguished. To sum up, in the guinea pig were observed: the large, mainly multipolar (type I) and bipolar (type II) spiny being coarse (class A) in Nissl material; the medium-sized, triangular, aspiny (type III) corresponding to the fine cells (class B); and the small, both spiny and aspiny neurons (type IV), which are the fine or achromatic cells (classes B or C) in Nissl stained slices. The highest degree of dendritic branching was observed in type I, whereas the lowest in cells of types III and IV
A morphometric study of the preoptic area of the guinea pig
The aim of the study was to provide the topography and morphometric characteristics
of the preoptic area (POA) of the guinea pig. The study was carried
out on the brains of sexually mature guinea pigs of both sexes. A uniform
procedure was followed in the study of the paraffin-embedded brain tissue
blocks of males and females. The blocks were cut in the coronal plane into
50 mm sections and stained according to the Nissl method. The guinea pig POA
consists of four parts: the medial preoptic area (MPA), lateral preoptic area
(LPA), periventricular preoptic nucleus (PPN), and median preoptic nucleus
(MPN). The topography and general structure of POA parts are similar in males
and females. However, the PPNa cells of females are more intensely stained
and are more densely packed than the PPNa cells of males. For morphometric
analysis, the MPA and LPA as well as PPN and MPN were considered respectively
as uniform structures, namely MPA-LPA and PPN-MPN. The statistical
analysis showed that the volume of the PPN-MPN was larger in males than in
females, whereas the MPA-LPA volume did not differ between the sexes. Moreover,
the numerical density and the total number of neurons were statistically
larger in males than in females in both the MPA-LPA and PPN-MPN. The parameters
describing POA neurons were larger for MPA-LPA neurons in comparison
with the PPN-MPN neurons. However, in this respect no sex differences
were observed in both studied complexes. Folia Morphol 2010; 69, 1: 15-2
The neuronal structure of the dorsal nucleus of the lateral geniculate body in the common shrew (Sorex araneus) and the bank vole (Clethrionomys glareolus): Golgi and Nissl studies
The topography and neuronal structure of the dorsal nucleus of the lateral geniculate
body (GLd) of the common shrew and the bank vole are similar. The
lateral geniculate body of both the species examined has a homogeneous structure
and no observable cytoarchitectonic lamination. On the basis of the shape
of the dendritic arbours as well as the pattern of dendritic arborisations the
following two types of neurons were distinguished. Type I “bushy” neurons that
have multipolar or round perikarya (common shrew perikarya 9–12 µm, bank
vole perikarya 10–13 µm), with 4–6 short thick dendritic trunks that subdivide
into many bush-like branches. The dendritic trunks are smooth, in contrast to
the distal branches, which are covered with numerous spine-like protrusions of
different lengths and forms. An axon emerges from the soma, sometimes very
close to one of the primary dendrites. The type I neurons are typically projection
cells that send their axons to the primary visual cortex. These neurons predominate
in the GLd of both species. Type II neurons, which have an elongated
soma with primary dendrites arising from opposite poles of the perikaryon (common
shrew perikarya 8–10 µm, bank vole perikarya 9–11 µm). The dendritic
arbours of these cells are less extensive and their dendrites have fewer spines
than those of the type I neurons. Axons were seldom observed. The type II
neurons are presumably interneurons and are definitely less numerous than the
type I neurons
A morphometric comparative study of the lateral geniculate body in selected placental mammals: the common shrew, the bank vole, the rabbit, and the fox
The lateral geniculate body (LGN) was morphometrically examined and compared
in representatives of four mammalian orders (Insectivora, Rodentia, Lagomorpha,
and Carnivora). In each studied species, the lateral geniculate body
was divided into two distinct parts: the dorsal nucleus (LGNd) and the ventral
nucleus (LGNv). The lateral geniculate body of the common shrew and the
bank vole are very similar in appearance and nuclear pattern. The dorsal and
ventral nuclei of these two species also have the most similar statistical characteristics.
The lateral geniculate body of the fox has the most complicated morphology
and multilayered structure. A significant disproportion was observed
between the sizes of both geniculate nuclei in the fox, where the dorsal nucleus
definitely surpassed the ventral nucleus in terms of volume. With the exception
of the fox, the neuronal density of the LGN nuclei was negatively correlated
with the volumes of the LGN. The mean neuronal size of the LGNd and
LGNv, which was the resultant of the length, width, area, and circumference
of the soma, grew correlatively to the volumes of these nuclei. In all examined
species, somas of the LGNd neurons are distinctly larger and have more similar
shapes than the LGNv perikarya. In addition, the numerical density of neurons
in the ventral nucleus is significantly higher than in the dorsal nucleus. All these
morphometric parameters clearly differentiate the LGNd from the LGNv
The neuronal structure of the preoptic area in the mole and the rabbit: Golgi and Nissl studies
The present studies were carried out on the brains of the adult mole and rabbit.
The preparations were made by means of the Golgi technique and the Nissl
method. Two types of neurons were distinguished in the preoptic area (POA) of
both species: bipolar and multipolar. The bipolar neurons have oval, fusiform or
round perikarya and two dendritic trunks arising from the opposite poles of the
cell body. The dendrites bifurcate once or twice. The dendritic branches have
swellings, single spine-like and filiform processes. The multipolar neurons usually
have triangular and quadrangular perikarya and from 3 to 5 dendritic trunks.
The dendrites of the mole neurons branch sparsely, whereas the dendrites of
the rabbit neurons display 2 or 3 divisions. On the dendritic branches varicosities
and different protuberances were observed. The general morphology of the
bipolar and multipolar neurons is similar in the mammals studied, although the
neurons of the rabbit POA display a more complicated structure. Their dendritic
branches show more divisions and possess more swellings and different processes
than the dendrites of the neurons of the mole POA. Furthermore, of the
multipolar neurons only the dendrites in POA of the rabbit were observed to
have a rosary-like beaded appearance
A morphometric study of the amygdala in the guinea pig
The characteristic features of guinea pig amygdala (CA), as shown by volumetric
comparisons of the individual nuclei, are the poor development of the basolateral
(BL) and lateral olfactory tract (NLOT) nuclei as well as the strong formation
of the lateral (LA) and basomedial (BM) nuclei. The central (CE), cortical (CO) and
medial (ME) nuclei also appear to be well represented in this species. All these
features are even more pronounced when the total number of neurons in the
nuclei referred to was taken into consideration. A comparison of the densities of
neurons in the individual nuclei with the mean numerical density of cells in the
guinea pig CA indicates that the densities of neurons in LA, BL, BM, CE and CO
are significantly lower than the mean (p < 0.05), whereas in the ME and NLOT
these values are significantly higher than the mean (p < 0.05). It is noteworthy,
that the densities of the neurons in CE and CO do not differ statistically from
each other (p > 0.05) and are significantly higher than the respective values in
LA, BL and BM (p < 0.05). Furthermore, a similar division of the guinea pig CA
may to some extent be made using the size parameters of the amygdaloid neurons
as a marker. Interestingly, the large neurons populate organised CA areas
like LA, BL and BM less densely, whereas the small cells create ME and NLOT,
where the neurons are densely arranged. CE and CO occupy intermediate positions,
with the neurons similar in size to the mean for the guinea pig CA