Morphometric analyses of axons in the human lateral corticospinal tract: cervical/lumbar level comparison and relation to the ageing process.
Myelinated axons in the human lateral corticospinal tract (LCST) at the C6 and L4 levels were examined on 16 male cadavers, with age ranging from 41 to 88 years. The average area of axons in the LCST was measured using a microscopic image-analyzing system. Our data show that the average area of axons at the C6 and L4 levels decreased with age. We also noticed that the average area of axons was larger at the C6 level than at the L4 level in all cases. This decrease may be related to a parallel decrease of conduction velocity in the LCST during the ageing process.
Nakanishi
Ryosuke
R
Department of Anatomy, Showa University School of Medicine, tokyo, Japan.
Goto
Jun
J
Ezure
Hiromitu
H
Motoura
Hiroyuki
H
Ayabe
Shin-ichi
S
Atsumi
Takashi
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology*; D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008161:Lumbosacral Region / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*