title: Size and density of glial and neuronal cells within the cerebral neocortex of various insectivorian species.
abstract: Morphometric measurements were done on frontal sections through the somatosensory neocortex of various insectivorian species. All measured parameters varied with the size of animals; there was a better correlation with the ventriculartopial brain wall thickness than with the brain weight. The following rules were evaluated: with increasing brain wall thickness, 1) lamina I becomes thinner; 2) the nuclei of both neuronal and glial cells become larger; 3) the volume density of neuronal cells decreases greatly; 4) the volume density of glial cells increases slightly; and 5) as a result, the glia:neuron index increases markedly. There was no equal number of neurons under a unit surface area in the cortices of any species studied. Developmental processes that might account for the above-mentioned rules are discussed in this report.
authors.affiliation: Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology, Karl Marx University, Leipzig, German Democratic Republic.
authors.forename: J U
authors.initials: JU
authors.lastname: Stolzenburg
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reichenbach
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neumann
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000166:cytology*; D007312:Eulipotyphla / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D013045:Species Specificity