Abstract
Our knowledge of the relationship between brain structure and cognitive function is still limited. Human brains and individual cortical areas vary considerably in size and shape. Studies of brain cell numbers have historically been based on biased methods, which did not always result in correct estimates and were often very time-consuming. Within the last 20–30 years, it has become possible to rely on more advanced and unbiased methods. These methods have provided us with information about fetal brain development, differences in cell numbers between men and women, the effect of age on selected brain cell populations, and disease-related changes associated with a loss of function. In that this article concerns normal brain rather than brain disorders, it focuses on normal brain development in humans and age related changes in terms of cell numbers. For comparative purposes a few examples of neocortical neuron number in other mammals are also presented.
Highlights
The accumulation of data from quantitative stereological postmortem studies of the brain has significantly increased our knowledge about the central nervous system
Our knowledge about the relationship between brain structure and cognitive function is limited by the considerable variability of the brain in size and shape, including the size of individual cortical areas, and the fact that most historical data were collected by potentially biased methods
Within the last 20–30 years, it has become possible to obtain more reliable data with unbiased stereological methods. These methods have provided us with new information about, for example, differences in cell number between men and women, the effect of age on selected brain cell populations, and disease-related changes associated with a loss of function (Pakkenberg and Gundersen, 1997; Andersen et al, 2003; Fabricius et al, 2007; Karlsen and Pakkenberg, 2011; Fabricius et al, 2013)
Summary
The accumulation of data from quantitative stereological postmortem studies of the brain has significantly increased our knowledge about the central nervous system. The neocortical neurons are in large parts formed while the glial cell numbers continue to increase well into the first years of life.
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