Abstract
The human striatum contains two types of neurons displaying immunoreactivity for the calcium-binding protein calretinin (CR): (1) large (22–44 μm), multipolar neurons with 5–7 long, aspiny and highly branched dendrites, and (2) medium-sized (9–18 μm), round-to-oval neurons with 2–3 long, varicose and poorly branched dendrites. These CR neurons represent only a small proportion of the total neuronal population and they are heterogeneously distributed in the striatum. The large CR neurons are more numerous in the putamen than in the caudate nucleus, whereas the inverse is true for the medium-sized CR neurons. The ratio of large- to medium-sized CR neurons is 1:4 in the putamen compared to 1:16 in the caudate nucleus. The existence of these two distinct subsets of chemospecific striatal neurons suggest that CR may play an important role in the intrinsic organization of the human striatum.
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