Variaciones de las células de cuadrícula y de posicionamiento de la corteza entorrinal y del giro dentado de 6 humanos de 56 a 87 años

Abstract

IntroductionThe relationship between the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus has been studied by different authors, who have highlighted the importance of grid cells, place cells, and the trisynaptic circuit in the processes that they regulate: the persistence of spatial, explicit, and recent memory and their possible impairment with ageing. ObjectiveWe aimed to determine whether older age causes changes in the size and number of grid cells contained in layer III of the entorhinal cortex and in the granular layer of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. MethodsWe conducted post-mortem studies of the brains of 6 individuals aged 56-87 years. The brain sections containing the dentate gyrus and the adjacent entorhinal cortex were stained according to the Klüver-Barrera method, then the Image J software was used to measure the individual neuronal area, the total neuronal area, and the number of neurons contained in rectangular areas in layer III of the entorhinal cortex and layer II of the dentate gyrus. Statistical analysis was subsequently performed. ResultsWe observed an age-related reduction in the cell population of the external pyramidal layer of the entorhinal cortex, and in the number of neurons in the granular layer of the dentate gyrus. ConclusionOur results indicate that ageing causes a decrease in the size and density of grid cells of the entorhinal cortex and place cells of the dentate gyrus.