Johnson Cameron B, Schall Matthew, Tennison Mackenzie E, Garcia Madeleine E, Shea-Shumsky Noah B, Raghanti Mary Ann, Lewandowski Albert H, Bertelsen Mads F, Waller Leona C, Walsh Timothy, Roberts John F, Hof Patrick R, Sherwood Chet C, Manger Paul R, Jacobs Bob
Laboratory of Quantitative Neuromorphology, Neuroscience Program, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colorado, 80903.
Department of Anthropology and School of Biomedical Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, 44242.
J Comp Neurol. 2016 Dec 1;524(17):3641-3665. doi: 10.1002/cne.24022. Epub 2016 May 17.
Despite extensive investigations of the neocortex in the domestic cat, little is known about neuronal morphology in larger felids. To this end, the present study characterized and quantified the somatodendritic morphology of neocortical neurons in prefrontal, motor, and visual cortices of the Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) and clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa). After neurons were stained with a modified Golgi technique (N = 194), dendritic branching and spine distributions were analyzed using computer-assisted morphometry. Qualitatively, aspiny and spiny neurons in both species appeared morphologically similar to those observed in the domestic cat. Although the morphology of spiny neurons was diverse, with the presence of extraverted, inverted, horizontal, and multiapical pyramidal neurons, the most common variant was the typical pyramidal neuron. Gigantopyramidal neurons in the motor cortex were extremely large, confirming the observation of Brodmann ([1909] Vergleichende Lokalisationlehre der Grosshirnrinde in ihren Prinzipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues. Leipzig, Germany: J.A. Barth), who found large somata for these neurons in carnivores in general, and felids in particular. Quantitatively, a MARSplines analysis of dendritic measures differentiated typical pyramidal neurons between the Siberian tiger and the clouded leopard with 93% accuracy. In general, the dendrites of typical pyramidal neurons were more complex in the tiger than in the leopards. Moreover, dendritic measures in tiger pyramidal neurons were disproportionally large relative to body/brain size insofar as they were nearly as extensive as those observed in much larger mammals (e.g., African elephant). Comparison of neuronal morphology in a more diverse collection of larger felids may elucidate the comparative context for the relatively large size of the pyramidal neurons observed in the present study. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:3641-3665, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
尽管对家猫的新皮质进行了广泛研究，但对于大型猫科动物的神经元形态却知之甚少。为此，本研究对东北虎（Panthera tigris altaica）和云豹（Neofelis nebulosa）前额叶皮质、运动皮质和视觉皮质中的新皮质神经元的体树突形态进行了表征和量化。在用改良的高尔基技术对神经元进行染色后（N = 194），使用计算机辅助形态测量法分析树突分支和棘突分布。定性地说，两个物种中的无棘突和有棘突神经元在形态上与家猫中观察到的神经元相似。尽管有棘突神经元的形态多种多样，存在外向型、倒置型、水平型和多顶锥体细胞，但最常见的类型是典型锥体细胞。运动皮质中的巨大锥体细胞非常大，证实了布罗德曼（[1909] Vergleichende Lokalisationlehre der Grosshirnrinde in ihren Prinzipien dargestellt auf Grund des Zellenbaues. Leipzig, Germany: J.A. Barth）的观察结果，他发现一般食肉动物尤其是猫科动物中这些神经元的胞体很大。定量地说，对树突测量进行的MARSplines分析以93%的准确率区分了东北虎和云豹中的典型锥体细胞。一般来说，典型锥体细胞的树突在老虎中比在豹中更复杂。此外，老虎锥体细胞的树突测量相对于身体/大脑大小而言不成比例地大，因为它们几乎与在大得多的哺乳动物（如非洲象）中观察到的树突一样广泛。在更多样化的大型猫科动物群体中比较神经元形态，可能会阐明本研究中观察到的锥体细胞相对较大尺寸的比较背景。《比较神经学杂志》524:3641 - 3665，2016年。© 2016威利期刊公司。
