title: The impact of recent stereological advances on quantitative studies of the nervous system.
abstract: The usefulness of a number of new stereological principles for unbiased estimation of particle number and sizes and sampling of particles is illustrated together with a novel principle for unbiased estimation of anisotropic surfaces. The examples include descriptions of estimators of neurone and synapse number and sizes, synapse gradients, neurone point patterns in three-dimensional space, capillary surface area, and perikarya volumes. A major advantage of the methods is the possibility to carry out the estimation procedures in specified, well-characterized regions or layers of the brain. Some general statistical and stereological problems are briefly discussed.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002196:Capillaries / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002452:Cell Count / Q000379:methods; D002525:Cerebellar Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000032:analysis; D006652:Histological Techniques; D009420:Nervous System / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000098:blood supply; D009445:Neuroanatomy / Q000379:methods*; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology; D051381:Rats; D013569:Synapses