title: Developmental and lesion induced cell death in the rat ventrobasal complex.
abstract: Naturally occurring and lesion induced neuronal death have been studied in the developing rat thalamus. Natural cell death was present from embryonic day (E)19 until postnatal day (P)8 with a peak occurring at birth. Counts of total neurones indicated a postnatal loss of 27%. Unilateral section of the infraorbital nerve at birth was associated with increased cell death in the contralateral thalamus; this was maximal at P2 and continued until P10. Counts of neurone numbers showed a reduction of about 24% of neurones on the contralateral side. A smaller, more transient decrease was seen ipsilaterally. The lesion induced cell loss was associated with a decrease in volume of the ventrobasal complex, with minimal reduction in cell density.
authors.affiliation: School of Anatomy, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Waite
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Ashwell
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D016923:Cell Death; D008442:Maxillary Nerve / Q000502:physiology*; D016548:Prosencephalon / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012016:Reference Values; D013788:Thalamus / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000473:pathology; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000294:innervation / Q000502:physiology