Quantitative investigations into the histostructural nature of the human putamen. I. Staining, cell classification and morphometry.

Combined staining with aldehyde and cresyl violet allows a reliable morphological distinction to be made between seven different types of neurons in the human putamen. We examined the age distribution of nearly 42,000 neurons in 27 normal putamina, using a semiautomatic morphometric procedure on defined tissue blocks. For morphometric evaluation and stereological calculations a section thickness of 20 microns is recommended. We modified routine aldehyde fuchsin cresyl violet combination staining for nervous tissue, since Braak's original method (Braak 1978, 1980) was developed for thick sections. The results show that neuronal density varies with age for the different types of neurons.