title: Postnatal changes in morphology and dendritic organization of neurones located in the area of the Kölliker-Fuse nucleus of rat.
abstract: The Kölliker-Fuse nucleus (KF) is an integral part of the central pattern generator for breathing and shows postnatal development of synaptic functions and cyto-architectural structure. Here, we analyzed the postnatal changes in cell morphology of biocytin-labelled KF neurones. Developmental analyses revealed an increasing size of somas and dendritic length. These changes were accompanied by changes in the orientation of the main dendritic branches from a diffuse orientation in neonates to a predominant medio-lateral orientation in juveniles. These developmental changes may allow for synaptic contacts with multiple ascending fibre tracts required for the processing of multi-modal respiratory inputs in the KF.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurophysiology and Sensory Physiology, Georg August University of Göttingen, Göttingen 37073, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reuter
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kron
authors.forename: Mathias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dutschmann
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D003712:Dendrites / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011149:Pons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley