Computer assisted three-dimensional reconstruction of brain regions from serial section digitized images. Application to the organization of striato-nigral relationships in the rat
Abstract
We have developed a software which allows the three-dimensional reconstruction of brain regions from serial section digitized images. This software, which generates wire-frame three dimensional models, requires at least a 486 PC microcomputer running Microsoft Windows (3.x or 95). Mosaics of high resolution images, covering large brain areas, digitized by means of a camera fitted on a microscope equipped with a motorized stage, are handled by our software as single high resolution images. Serial sets of such images may be segmented and manually aligned. We have utilized this software to study the organization of striatal efferences within the substantia nigra pars reticulata, as well as the distribution of neuronal cell bodies within the substantia nigra pars compacta after micro-ionophoretic application of wheat germ agglutinin conjugated to horseradish peroxidase into the orofacial sensorimotor region of the striatum. The three dimensional representation of anterogradely labeled striatal efferences confirmed and determined the lamellar organization previously postulated from serial plane section micrographs. The distribution in the rat brain of retrogradely labeled nigro-striatal cell bodies, which had not yet been studied af...Continue Reading
References
Citations
Related Concepts
Related Feeds
Basal Ganglia
Basal Ganglia are a group of subcortical nuclei in the brain associated with control of voluntary motor movements, procedural and habit learning, emotion, and cognition. Here is the latest research.