Event Abstract Back to Event The ultrastructure of the filum terminale Erika Lukácsi1*, Csaba Boros1, Erzsebet O. Horvath1 and Miklos Rethelyi1 1 Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Semmelweis University, Hungary The filum terminale (FT) is the most caudal portion of the spinal cord. Recent studies disclosed that the similarly to the spinal cord, the FT consist of white and gray matters surrounding the caudal extension of the central canal (CC). Ultrastructural studies on the FT of rats, cats and a monkey showed the following components. 1) Ependymal cells with cilia and microvilli lining the CC. Liquor contact neuron and a convolute of axon terminals inside the CC were seen in the rat. 2) Small size - 8-15 μm in diameter - often longitudinally oriented neurons and mainly longitudinally oriented dendrites of various diameter. 3) The classical forms of axosomatic and axondendritic synapses. Rosettes of several axon terminals of 1 to 2 μm in diameter around a dendrite were frequently seen. No large size axons, no axonal glomerulus and no axo-axonic connections were found. 4) Myelinated and unmyelinated fibers were coursing in the peripheral region of the FT forming the white matter. - The FT of the cat contained a large number of extremely fine unmyelinated fibers and processes of fibrous astrocytes. In the FT of the monkey the nervous tissue was organized in spheres of 50 to 80 μm in diameter that were loosely connected to the basal surface of the ependyma. Perikarya of neurons, glial cells and numerous myelinated nerve fibers occurred in the spheres. Synapses in the form of rosettes in which a dendrite was surrounded by several presynaptic terminals occurred frequently also in the monkey. Conference: 12th Meeting of the Hungarian Neuroscience Society, Budapest, Hungary, 22 Jan - 24 Jan, 2009. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Developmental neurobiology and subcortical functions Citation: Lukácsi E, Boros C, Horvath EO and Rethelyi M (2009). The ultrastructure of the filum terminale. Front. Syst. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: 12th Meeting of the Hungarian Neuroscience Society. doi: 10.3389/conf.neuro.01.2009.04.064 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 09 Mar 2009; Published Online: 09 Mar 2009. * Correspondence: Erika Lukácsi, Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, elukacsi@ana.sote.hu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Erika Lukácsi Csaba Boros Erzsebet O Horvath Miklos Rethelyi Google Erika Lukácsi Csaba Boros Erzsebet O Horvath Miklos Rethelyi Google Scholar Erika Lukácsi Csaba Boros Erzsebet O Horvath Miklos Rethelyi PubMed Erika Lukácsi Csaba Boros Erzsebet O Horvath Miklos Rethelyi Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.