A quantitative investigation of the development of collateral reinnervation after partial deafferentation of the septal nuclei

doi:10.1016/0006-8993(73)90729-4

Brain Research

Volume 50, Issue 2, 28 February 1973, Pages 241-264

https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(73)90729-4 Get rights and content

Abstract

A quantitative ultrastructural analysis of different types of synapses can yield figures which are highly consistent for the same area from one animal to the next.

(1) In the medial and lateral septal nuclei of the rat, 64% of synapses are on dendritic spines, 32% are on dendritic shafts and 4% are on cell somata.
(2) After section of the ipsilateral fimbria up to one half of the synapses on dendritic spines but only a small proportion of the synapses on dendritic shafts undergo orthograde degeneration. The degeneration reaches its peak within the first week and is virtually all removed by one month after operation.
(3) The number of non-degenerating spine synapses falls to one half of its original value within a week after operation but returns to normal levels by one month. This suggests that almost all the deafferented dendritic spines may be reinnervated.
(4) The number of axon terminals seen making more than one synaptic contact in the plane of section increases progressively from its normal low level to reach a maximum at about one month after operation. It is argued that these multiple synaptic contacts arise because of reinnervation of neighbouring vacated sites by pre-existing axon terminals in the region. In the formation of multiple synapses axon terminals already contacting dendritic spines are involved more often than can be explained on the basis of their proximity to the deafferented sites.
(5) For the first few weeks after operation synaptic thickenings may be seen unapposed by axon terminals; at later stages these configurations become less common. This suggests that synaptic thickenings persist after deafferentation but that they exist for only a brief period in a non-synaptic form.

Collateral reinnervation is not random — it is a quantitatively predictable phenomenon, following a rigid time course and resulting in a characteristic pattern of synapse formation.

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A quantitative investigation of the development of collateral reinnervation after partial deafferentation of the septal nuclei

Abstract

Brain Research

Brain Research

Brain Research

Brain Research

Brain Research

Exp. Neurol.

Brain Research

Brain Research

Brain Research

Degeneration and regeneration of hypothalamic nerve fibres in the neurohypophysis after pituitary stalk section in the ferret

J. comp. Neurol.

Changes in the hypothalamus associated will regeneration of the hypothalamo-neurohypophysial tract after pituitary stalk section in the ferret

J. comp. Neurol.

Ascending monoamine neurons to the telencephalon and diencephalon

Acta physiol. scand.

Degeneration and Regeneration of the Nervous System

Studies of the connexions of the fornix system

J. Neurol. Psychiat.

The function of the dendritic spine: an hypothesis

Collateral nerve regeneration

Quart. Rev. Biol.

A quantitative ultrastural analysis of the distribution of amygdaloid fibres in the preoptic area and the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus

Exp. Brain Res.

The Formation of Nerve Connections

Loss of dendritic spines as an index of pre-synaptic terminal patterns

Nature (Lond.)

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J. comp. Neurol.