[Comparative characteristics of the dentritic spines of the 3 chief cortical zones of the steppe turtle forebrain].

A comparative study of the dendritic spines in three principal cortical zones of the turtle forebrain reveals certain patterns of spine distribution, length, shape and other specific morphological characters in every cortical region. The dorsal cortex spines show the highest density, the greatest length, the smallest head diameter, the largest number of mitochondria and invaginated spines. The above features markedly distinguish the dorsal cortex spines from the those of the medial and lateral cortex, which is associated with a more complex morpho-functional organization of this cortical region.