van Heerden Nicole, Prigge Lané, Venter Gerda
Department of Anatomy School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Pretoria Pretoria Gauteng South Africa.
Ibrain. 2025 Jun 13;11(3):375-384. doi: 10.1002/ibra.12200. eCollection 2025 Fall.
The interthalamic adhesion (IA), which may not be present in all humans, is a midline structure that connects the two thalami within the brain's third ventricle. A review of the known literature regarding the IA shows few histological studies and controversy regarding the organization of neurons within this region. This study conducted an anatomical investigation of the human IA in adult South African samples. Samples were obtained from 20 human adult embalmed cadavers: 11 from brains with a visible IA and 9 from brains without this feature. All the samples were harvested using sagittal sections of the area. Three additional samples were sectioned horizontally, yielding 33 tissue blocks. Before observation, these samples were appropriately processed for light microscopy and stained with haematoxylin and eosin, as well as cresyl violet. The results showed that no specific structural arrangements of the neurons were identifiable. The appearance appeared random, except for a distinguishable range in the frequency and dispersion of specific cells upon basic observation. Microglia were the most abundant cell type, and blood vessels were also observed. This study reports a novel inspection of the general histology of the thalamus, specifically of the IA and the periventricular (PVR) region, in midsagittal sections and three horizontal sections. This study confirmed the presence of pyramidal neurons within the IA, forming a bridge between the PVR region of the thalami, thus providing evidence to suggest that the IA could serve as a potential bridge for neural connections crossing over the brain's midline.
丘脑间粘合（IA）并非在所有人中都存在，它是一种中线结构，连接大脑第三脑室内的两个丘脑。对有关IA的已知文献进行综述发现，关于该区域内神经元组织的组织学研究很少，且存在争议。本研究对成年南非样本中的人类IA进行了解剖学研究。样本取自20具成年人类防腐尸体：11具来自有可见IA的大脑，9具来自没有此特征的大脑。所有样本均采用该区域的矢状切片获取。另外三个样本进行了水平切片，得到33个组织块。在观察之前，这些样本经过适当处理用于光学显微镜检查，并用苏木精和伊红以及甲酚紫染色。结果表明，无法识别神经元的特定结构排列。外观看起来是随机的，只是在基本观察时特定细胞的频率和分散存在明显差异。小胶质细胞是最丰富的细胞类型，同时也观察到了血管。本研究报告了对丘脑一般组织学的新检查，特别是对矢状中切片和三个水平切片中的IA和脑室周围（PVR）区域的检查。本研究证实了IA内存在锥体神经元，在丘脑的PVR区域之间形成了一座桥梁，从而提供证据表明IA可能作为神经连接跨越大脑中线的潜在桥梁。
