The effects of centrifugation on the morphology of the lateral vestibular nucleus in the rat: a light and electron microscopic study.
Very little is known about structural changes in the central nervous system following exposure to increased g forces. Sprague-Dawley rats were centrifuged at Ames Research Center at 2.76-4.15 x g for periods ranging from 4 days to 21 months. The lateral vestibular nuclei were processed for electron microscopy and examined for evidence of structural alteration as a result of centrifugation. The number of filamentous nuclear inclusions, varicosities, and relative number of axosomatic synaptic terminals containing flattened vesicles (presumed inhibitory in function) increased in centrifuged rats. Altered mitochondria also were noted in that cell bodies of Deiters' neurons. Neuroaxonal dystrophy (NAD) was found in long-term centrifuged rats and was characterized by axons filled with reticulated mitochondria. The NAD found in the lateral vestibular nuclei of centrifuged rats is different from that seen in the dorsal column nuclei of aged mice.
D000818:Animals; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D004721:Endoplasmic Reticulum / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006112:Gravitation; D008297:Male; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D013569:Synapses / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014726:Vestibular Nuclei / Q000473:pathology*; D003689:Vestibular Nucleus, Lateral / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure
D012313:RNA