Abstract
The proportion of neurons immunoreactive for γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and their rostrocaudal distribution in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus of the rat, were determined quantitatively using post-embedding GABA-immunochemistry on semithin resin embedded coronal sections followed by stereological analysis. The mean total volume numerical density of neurons (total number of neurons per mm 3) in the dLGN was 67,077 ± 4412 mm −3 (mean ± SEM; n = 5), comprising a mean volume numerical density for GABA-immunopositive neurons of 14,584 ± 1324 mm −3, and a mean volume numerical density of GABA-immunonegative neurons of 52,493 ± 3419 mm −3. GABA-immunopositive neurons constituted 21.7 ± 0.5% of the total neuronal composition of the rat dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. Although no rostrocaudal variation was detected in the total volume numerical density of neurons, the relative proportion of GABA-immunopositive neurons was significantly lower in the caudal segment (18.1 ± 0.6%) compared with the middle (24.9 ± 0.9%) and the rostral segments (22.1%). Furthermore, on the basis of somatic size distributions, GABA-immunonegative neurons were seen to be significantly smaller in the caudal segment than in the more anterior two segments. The somatic size of GABA-immunopositive neurons showed no rostrocaudal variation through the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus. These data provide a morphological correlate for the structural and functional subdivision of the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus described previously in electrophysiological and morphological studies.
Published Version
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