title: [Morphologic aspects of the maturation of the sensory areas of the cerebral cortex exemplified by the visual cortex of the rabbit].
abstract: When the cerebral cortex commences its earliest functional tasks, the cellular layers and the basic organisation pattern of cell processes have already developed. In the rabbit visual cortex it could be shown that the functional differentiation runs parallel to an increase in number and growth of cell processes. Those tissue compartments where the newly formed branches of the dendritic trees of cortical neurons come into contact with the axons arising from other cerebral regions, grow between two and six times larger depending on the cortical layer where their volume fractions are measured. Cell processes grow and increase in number most rapidly between the second and the fourth postnatal weeks. Myelination of fast conducting axons takes longer and attains an adult level about three month after birth. Then the visual cortex of the rabbit may be regarded as mature with regard to both structure and function.
authors.affiliation: Anatomisches Institut, Universität Bonn.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schmolke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001369:Axons / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D011817:Rabbits; D013569:Synapses / Q000648:ultrastructure; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000166:cytology*; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000166:cytology
vernacular_title: Morphologische Aspekte zur Reifung sensorischer Hirnrindenareale am Beispiel der Sehrinde des Kaninchens.