Subthalamic neurons in primates: A quantitative and comparative analysis

doi:10.1016/0306-4522(79)90030-7

Neuroscience

Volume 4, Issue 11, November 1979, Pages 1717-1743

https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-4522(79)90030-7 Get rights and content

Abstract

The anatomy of the subthalamic nucleus in primates was studied in the macaque and in man with relation to stereotaxic ventricular coordinates. Its cytoarchitecture was studied on cresyl violet stained sections and the subthalamic neurons were analysed on Golgi impregnated material from macaque, baboon and man. The distribution and morphology of the neurons were described by means of both algebraic (dendritic numbers) and geometric (lengths, surfaces and three-dimensional reconstructions) statistical parameters. The primates' subthalamic neurons were compared with those of cats. The unimodal distribution of all the statistically studied parameters strongly suggests that there is only one variety of subthalamic Golgi type I neuron which is identical in cat, monkey and man. The cell body is ovoidal in shape, giving it a fusiform appearance when it is observed parallel to its long axis, whereas it looks round or polygonal in other directions. On average, 7 dendritic stems originate from various points on the periphery of the so ma; they branch out in successive bifurcations giving rise to a mean of 27 dendritic tips. In the centrally located neurons, the dendritic domains are ellipsoidal. Their mean dimensions are 1200, 600 and 300 μm. The long axis of the dendritic domains is usually parallel to the main rostrocaudal axis of the nucleus. The marginal neurons that are close to the borders of the nucleus seem to lack the part of their dendritic arborization that could have crossed the borders. Their longest dendrites are parallel to the border of the nucleus. Cell bodies are somewhat smaller and dendrites shorter in the caudal part of the nucleus than in its oral part, but the dendritic domains are still ellipsoidal. In addition to the Golgi type I neurons, small neurons have been looked for in cat, baboon, macaque and human brains. None of the small cells found in baboon and in man had the characteristic morphology of a local circuit neuron.

Thus the subthalamic nucleus appears to be a homogeneous closed nucleus whose Golgi type I neurons seem to belong to a single neuronal species that does not change from cat to man. As afferents and efferents to the nucleus also apparently remain the same, it is probably legitimate to extrapolate from studies on experimental species to man.

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Subthalamic neurons in primates: A quantitative and comparative analysis

Abstract

Brain Res.

Neurosci. Lett.

Brain Res.

Brain Res.

Brain Res.

Brain Res.

Neurosci. Lett.

Neurosci. Lett.

Expl Neurol.

Alcoholic thionin counterstaining following Golgi dichromate silver impregnation

Stain Technol.

A quantitative analysis of the structure of the cerebral cortex

Verh. K. Akad. Wet.

Analysis of somatotopic relations of the corpus Luysi in man and monkey. Relation between the site of dyskinesia and distribution of lesions within the subthalamic nucleus

J. comp. Neurol.

Lesions of the substantia nigra in the rhesus monkey. Efferent fiber degeneration and behavioral observations

Am. J. Anat.

Nigrostriatal and nigrothalamic fibers in the rhesus monkey

J. comp. Neurol.

Efferent fiber projections of the subthalamic nucleus in the monkey. A comparison of the efferent projections of the subthalamic nucleus, substantia nigra and globus pallidus

Am. J. Anat.

The projections of the entopeduncular nucleus and globus pallidus in rat as demonstrated by autoradiography and horseradish peroxidase histochemistry

J. comp. Neurol.

Golgi's dichromate silver method—3. Chromating fluids

Stain Technol.

Anatomy of the Normal Human Thalamus

Les Noyaux Gris Centraux de la Région Mésencéphalo-sous-Optique

Untersuchungenüber die Haubenregion und ihre oberen Verknüpfungen im Gehirne des Menschen und einiger Säugethiere, mit Beiträgen zu den Methoden der Gehirnuntersuchung

Arch. Psychiat. NervKrankh

Pattern and field in cortical structure: the rabbit

J. comp. Neurol.

Demonstration of a pallidonigral projection innervating dopaminergic neurons

J. comp. Neurol.

A Golgi study on the subthalamic nucleus of the cat

J. comp. Neurol.

Projections of the globus pallidus and adjacent structures: an autoradiographic study in the monkey

J. comp. Neurol.

Beiträge zur normalen Anatomie des Corpus Luysi beim Menschen

Arb. anat. Inst. Sendai

Der feinere Bau des Nervensystems

The specificity of the neuronal structure and topography of the reticular formation of the brain and spinal cord of carnivora

J. comp. Neurol.