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Development of neurons in the ectostriatum of normal and monocularly deprived zebra finches: A quantitative Golgi study
Author(s) -
Herrmann Kathrin,
Bischof HansJoachim
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of comparative neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.855
H-Index - 209
eISSN - 1096-9861
pISSN - 0021-9967
DOI - 10.1002/cne.902770110
Subject(s) - biology , dendritic spine , anatomy , lateralization of brain function , spine (molecular biology) , physiology , zoology , neuroscience , microbiology and biotechnology , hippocampal formation
The postnatal development of the main neuron type in the ectostriatum, the telencephalic station of the tectofugal pathway, was followed in normally reared and monocularly deprived zebra finches by using the Golgi method. Three parameters were investigated: dendritic field radius, branching index, and spine density. The results show that all three exhibit the same developmental trend—namely, an increase from day 5 until day 20, followed by a subsequent reduction until adulthood (> 100 days). Monocular deprivation from birth until day 20, 40, or at least 100 does not seem to interfere with the development of the dendritic field radius or branching index. Clear changes in spine density result from depriving the birds for at least 40 days. In these birds, neurons in the deprived hemisphere bear significantly fewer spines than those in the nondeprived hemisphere, which is mainly due to a lack of normally occurring spine reduction in the nondeprived hemisphere rather than to spine reduction in the deprived hemisphere.