Quantitative assessment of brain lesions.
The availability of precisely measurable dependent variables such as neurochemical activity, homeostatic changes, and behavioral patterns calls for more precise methods of measuring the independent variables of brain lesion research. In this study a method of measuring volumes of internal brain lesions and estimating amounts of damage to specific nuclei is described. Enlarged pictures of histologic sections through the lesion area are used. The structures to be measured are cut out of the pictures and weighed, and a weight-volume conversion formula is applied to yield the volumes of the structures. Two variations of this volumetric method are compared and evaluated. Various applications and advantages of quantified lesion data are discussed and appropriate statistical procedures are described.
D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D008433:Mathematics; D008722:Methods; D010781:Photography; D013223:Statistics as Topic