[Quantitative morphologic characteristics of developing brain stem reticular formation neurons].

The paper presented results of a quantitative Golgi study of developing neurons of the brain stem reticular nuclei of prenatal and newborn kittens. Age of prenatal animals was 45-55 days, that of newborns 1-5 and 30 days. The neurons were divided into sparsely ramified reticular and densely ramified multipolar giant ones. The quantitative morphological data were obtained by measuring cellular sizes, number, length and degree of branching of dendrites and general cell branching. The neurons of both kinds had different parameters and special features of their maturation. A higher degree of branching was observed in the fetus. Foci of maximal dendrite branching were localized in proximal and distal portions of dendrites in the fetus and 30-day old kittens, and only in proximal portions in the infant kitten. An attempt was made to correlate morphological and electrophysiological properties of the neurons under study.