Size and density of glial and neuronal cells within the cerebral neocortex of various insectivorian species

Abstract

Morphometric measurements were done on frontal sections through the somatosensory neocortex of various insectivorian species. All measured parameters varied with the size of animals; there was a better correlation with the ventriculartopial brain wall thickness than with the brain weight. The following rules were evaluated: with increasing brain wall thickness, 1) lamina I becomes thinner; 2) the nuclei of both neuronal and glial cells become larger; 3) the volume density of neuronal cells decreases greatly; 4) the volume density of glial cells increases slightly; and 5) as a result, the glia:neuron index increases markedly. There was no equal number of neurons under a unit surface area in the cortices of any species studied. Developmental processes that might account for the above-mentioned rules are discussed in this report.