Dissector Technique Research Articles

Loss of vasopressin-immunoreactive neurons in alcoholics is dose-related and time-dependent.

The chronic consumption of alcohol significantly reduces the number of vasopressin-producing neurons in the rat supraoptic nucleus [Maderia et al. (1993) Neourscience 56, 657-672] suggesting this region is particularly vulnerable to alcohol neurotoxicity. As hypothalamic vasopressin producing neurons are necessary for fluid homeostasis, it is important to assess if similar changes occur in humans. We analysed arginine vasopressin-immunoreactive neurons in the magnocellular hypothalamic nuclei of ten chronic alcoholic men (consuming > 80 g of ethanol per day) and four age- and sex-matched controls (consuming < 10g of ethanol per day). Brains were collected at autopsy and fixed in formalin. Serial 50 mu m-thick-sections of the hypothalamus were stained and assessed. The volume of the paraventricular and supraoptic nuclei and number of neurons were estimated using Cavalieri's principle and the optical dissector technique. The volume of these nuclei significantly correlated with the number of neurons and the number of vasopressin-immunoreactive neurons, and these measures significantly correlated with the maximum daily intake of alcohol. There was a loss of neurons at consumption levels greater than 100 g of ethanol per day, principally affecting the supraoptic nucleus although neuron loss also occurred in the paraventricular nucleus in cases with long histories of alcohol consumption. These results indicate that chronic alcohol consumption is toxic to hypothalamic vasopressin-producing neurons in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. As these magnocellular neurons are osmo-receptive, neuronal loss may result in fluid imbalances.

Alterations in cortical thickness and neuronal density in the frontal cortex of Albert Einstein

Neuronal density, neuron size, and the number of neurons under 1 mm 2 of cerebral cortical surface area were measured in the right pre-frontal cortex of Albert Einstein and five elderly control subjects. Measurement of neuronal density used the optical dissector technique on celloidin-embedded cresyl violet-stained sections. The neurons counted provided a systematic random sample for the measurement of cell body cross-sectional area. Einstein's cortex did not differ from the control subjects in the number of neurons under 1 mm 2 of cerebral cortex or in mean neuronal size. Because Einstein's cortex was thinner than the controls he had a greater neuronal density.

Time-Resolved Spectroscopy of Scintillation Materials using X-RAY Synchrotron Radiation

ABSTRACTThe time-resolved luminescence spectra and decay kinetics of BaF2, BGO, and CeF3, were measured with the dissector technique using X-ray synchrotron radiation (SR)of different spectral composition from wiggler mounted at VEPP-3 storage ring (Novosibirsk).Two effects of X-ray excitation energy on the luminescence parameters were observed: modifications of the emission spectrum and acceleration of decay kinetics. Under the excitation by soft X-ray SR the 220 nm emission band for BaF2 is broadened, whereas shorter wavelength part of CeF3 and BGO emission spectra increases. For luminescence decay of excitons and crossluminescence the degree of the deviation from the single exponential law depends on the photon energies and increases under soft X-ray excitation as well. These effects are supposed to be due to the interaction of electronic excitations created after the relaxation of deep core holes.Fast intrinsic luminescence was observed for Cdl2, and CsPbCl3 under X-ray SR excitation. 500 nm band of Cdl2 has characteristic time τ=4.6 ns, whereas 420 nm band of CsPbCl3 shows very fast decay with τ=0.2 ns.

Age-related loss of axospinous synapses formed by two afferent systems in the rat dentate gyrus as revealed by the unbiased stereological dissector technique.

Previous attempts to elucidate whether a loss of hippocampal synapses occurs during aging provided conflicting results, possibly due to the unavailability, at the time, of unbiased methods for synapse quantitation. This study was designed to reexamine the issue by means of modern technical procedures that provide unbiased estimates of synaptic numbers. Groups of 14 young adult (5 months old) and 14 aged (28 months old) male Fischer-344 rats were compared. Synapses were examined in the middle (MML) and inner (IML) molecular layer of the hippocampal dentate gyrus, where synaptic contacts are predominantly formed by different systems of afferents, the entorhinal and commissural-associational fibers, respectively. The number of synapses per neuron was estimated with the aid of the stereological dissector technique. The results showed that the total number of synaptic contacts per neuron was significantly diminished in the MML (by 23.6%) and IML (by 22.7%) of aged rats relative to young adults. This age-related synaptic loss involved axospinous, but not axodendritic, junctions of the MML (-24.4%) and IML (-24.0%). Both perforated and nonperforated axospinous synapses (distinguished by a discontinuous or continuous postsynaptic density, respectively) exhibited an age-dependent decrease in numbers, though this decrease did not reach statistical significance in the case of perforated junctions of the IML. The observed age-related loss of axospinous synapses may underlie the reduction in the amplitude of excitatory postsynaptic potentials and the decline in functional synaptic plasticity detected in the dentate gyrus of senescent rats.