title: A quantitative comparison of synaptic density following perfusion versus immersion fixation in the rat cerebral cortex.
abstract: The main objective of the present study was to perform an unbiased comparison of immersion vs. perfusion techniques to assess whether we could use the former to quantify synapses through electron microscopy (EM). Using the immersion technique is ideally suited for instances in which the specimen under study could not be perfused under the standard EM protocol. Our results suggest that, despite suboptimal qualitative results, fixation by immersion allows for adequate quantification of synapses.
authors.affiliation: Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, T1K 3M4. marie.monfils@uleth.ca
authors.forename: Marie-H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Monfils
authors.forename: Doug F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Bray
authors.forename: Ira
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Driscoll
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Kleim
authors.forename: Bryan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kolb
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D051381:Rats; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D013569:Synapses / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D016707:Tissue Fixation / Q000379:methods*