F. Sultan et Jm. Bower, QUANTITATIVE GOLGI-STUDY OF THE RAT CEREBELLAR MOLECULAR LAYER INTERNEURONS USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS, Journal of comparative neurology, 393(3), 1998, pp. 353-373
In this study, we applied for the first time a multivariate analysis t
o describe the anatomy of cerebellar molecular layer interneurons. For
ty variables extending over a variety of morphological features (geome
trical, topological, and metrical) were obtained from a three-dimensio
nal reconstruction of 26 rat rapid Golgi-stained neurons. The subseque
nt principal component analysis showed that the first principal compon
ent was strongly correlated with variables related to the depth of eac
h cell's soma in the molecular layer. The second principal component w
as strongly correlated with parameters describing axonal morphology. F
inally, an analysis of the distribution of these anatomical features s
uggested that these cells cannot be classified into distinct groups bu
t, instead, represent one continuously varying population. Thus, the c
lassical division of molecular layer neurons into deep basket cells an
d superficial stellate cells is not supported by our analysis. These r
esults have important implications for the development of the cerebell
ar cortex as well as for the expected patterns of Purkinje cell activi
ty following activation of the granule cell layer. (C) 1998 Wiley-Liss
, Inc.