Foote S L, Loughlin S E, Cohen P S, Bloom F E, Livingston R B
J Neurosci Methods. 1980 Dec;3(2):159-73. doi: 10.1016/0165-0270(80)90023-0.
A technique is described which permits construction of accurate, quantified 3-dimensional maps of the distribution of neuronal cell groups in brain. The cartesian coordinates of landmarks and individual neurons are obtained from serial histological sections utilizing a computer-linked digitizing microscope. The digitized images of these sections are displayed on a computer graphics picture system where they are aligned so that spatial relationships within the nucleus are essentially identical to those of the intact brain. This is accomplished using information about landmarks obtained from photomicrotomy. As a consequence of the alignment procedure, each neuron is assigned a 3-dimensional coordinate representing its position in the reconstituted nucleus, and the reconstruction is oriented in a stereotaxic coordinate system. Nuclei from different brains can then be registered to one another, assigned coordinates relative to this standard coordinate space, and be compared statistically. Differences between nuclei in the spatial distribution of neurons in toto, or in the distribution of anatomically or physiologically defined subpopulations of neurons, can then be visualized with greater accuracy and in more detail than that permitted by traditional techniques. In addition, such comparisons can easily be quantified and statistically evaluated using, for example, analysis-of-variance techniques. For illustrative purposes, the technique is applied to the rat nucleus locus coeruleus as reconstructed from serial Nissl-stained sections.
本文描述了一种技术，该技术可用于构建大脑中神经元细胞群分布的精确、定量三维图谱。利用与计算机相连的数字化显微镜从连续组织学切片中获取地标和单个神经元的笛卡尔坐标。这些切片的数字化图像显示在计算机图形图像系统上，在该系统中它们被对齐，使得核内的空间关系与完整大脑的空间关系基本相同。这是利用从显微切片术中获得的有关地标的信息来完成的。作为对齐过程的结果，每个神经元被赋予一个三维坐标，该坐标表示其在重建核中的位置，并且重建在立体定向坐标系中定向。然后可以将来自不同大脑的核相互配准，相对于这个标准坐标空间分配坐标，并进行统计比较。与传统技术相比，现在可以更准确、更详细地可视化整个神经元空间分布的核之间的差异，或者在解剖学或生理学定义的神经元亚群分布中的差异。此外，使用例如方差分析技术，可以很容易地对这种比较进行量化和统计评估。为了说明目的，该技术应用于从连续尼氏染色切片重建的大鼠蓝斑核。
