Quantitative phylogenetic constancy of cerebellar Purkinje cell morphological complexity.
Golgi-stained material of cerebellar cortices from 17 species was examined by measuring the fractal dimensions of the borders of Purkinje cells, which is a quantitative, objective measure of morphological complexity. Nine species (from birds to man) were chosen for a comparison with ANOVA and no statistically significant differences were found in their fractal dimensions. In contrast, a wide range of differences was found in the membrane areas across species lines. The Sholl coefficient, a measure of branch formation and termination away from the soma, showed no consistent pattern for each cell. We interpret our results as indicating a constancy in morphological cellular complexity of Purkinje cells during late evolutionary time.
Laboratory of Neurophysiology, NINDS, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
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Smith
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Brauer
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Reichenbach
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D013045:Species Specificity