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Journal article

A unilateral section of the corticospinal tract at cervical level in Primate does not lead to measurable cell loss in Motor cortex

  • Wannier, Thierry Unit of Physiology and Program in Neurosciences, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Sciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland - Brain Research Institute, Department of Neuromorphology, University and ETH Zurich, Zürich, Switzerland
  • Schmidlin, Eric Unit of Physiology and Program in Neurosciences, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Sciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
  • Bloch, Jocelyne Department of Neurosurgery, Neurosurgery Clinic, University Hospital of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
  • Rouiller, Eric M. Unit of Physiology and Program in Neurosciences, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Sciences, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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    15.06.2005
Published in:
  • Journal of Neurotrauma. - 2005, vol. 22, no. 6, p. 703-717
spinal cord
monkey
primary motor cortex
supplementary motor area
lesion
English The effects of a unilateral interruption of the dorsolateral funiculus at cervical level on the survival of neurons in the motor cortex were investigated in macaque monkeys. The lesion was made on the left side at the transition region between the 7th and 8th cervical segments, above the motoneurons controlling hand muscles. As a result, the homolateral hand became paretic, although an incomplete recovery of manual dexterity took place during 2 months post-lesion. A quantitative anatomical assessment of pyramidal neurons in layer V was performed in the hindlimb area of the primary motor cortex and in the supplementary motor area (SMA proper). The pyramidal neurons were visualized using the marker SMI-32 and thus included the subpopulation of corticospinal neurons. These quantitative data demonstrated that the vast majority of the axotomized corticospinal (CS) neurons did not degenerate. Rather, their somata shrank, compared to the opposite hemisphere or to intact monkeys. This conclusion is in contrast to some previous studies in monkeys that argued for a substantial degeneration of motor cortex neurons as a result of transection of the corticospinal tract; yet in agreement with others that concluded the survival of most CS neurons. The survival of the majority of CS axotomized neurons is also consistent with the observation of numerous CS axons 1 mm above the cervical hemisection.
Faculty
Faculté des sciences et de médecine
Department
Département de Médecine
Language
  • English
Classification
Medicine
License
License undefined
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Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/299801
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