In a study involving 50 optic nerves isolated from 3 different strains of adult male mice, C57BL, CBA and (C57BL x CBA) Fl hybrids, and from adult female CBA strain mice, we observed that the mouse had a lower mean total myelinated nerve fibre count than other mammals such as the rat, cat, rabbit, monkey and man where similar information was available from the literature. The nerve fibre spectr...

This paper describes effort towards automatic tissue segmentation in neonatal MRI. Extremely low contrast to noise ratio (CNR), regional intensity changes due to RF coil inhomogeneity and biology, and tissue property changes due to the early myelination and axon pruning processes require a methodology that combines the strength of spatial priors (template atlas), data modelling, and prior knowl...

In recent years many workers have studied the morphology of the adult corpus callosum and controversy exists regarding genderand ageassociated differences. Callosal size may vary due to differences in the number and size of nerve fibers, glial cells and blood vessels. However, very little is known about the fiber composition of the human corpus callosum and how this might affect the length and ...

Vibrissal follicle-sinus complexes (F-SCs) are sensory receptors of the mammalian integument system. They are best developed within Pinnipedia. The objective of this study was to investigate the F-SCs of bearded seals (Erignathus barbatus) for benthic foraging adaptations. Bearded seals possessed approximately 244 mystacial F-SCs. In this species, F-SCs consisted of an outer dermal capsule (DC)...

BACKGROUND Myelinated axons are essential for rapid conduction of action potentials in the vertebrate nervous system. Of particular importance are the nodes of Ranvier, sites of voltage-gated sodium channel clustering that allow action potentials to be propagated along myelinated axons by saltatory conduction. Despite their critical role in the function of myelinated axons, little is known abou...

Topical capsaicin is believed to alleviate pain by desensitizing the vanilloid receptor 1 (VR1) at the peripheral nerve endings. Here, we report that an up-regulation of VR1 expression on myelinated fibers contributes to the antihyperalgesic effect of capsaicin cream in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic neuropathic pain. Intravenous injection of STZ (200 mg/kg) in mice caused rapid onset of...

A dilute solution of procaine in glucose solution was injected by slow drip into the lumbar theca of patients to cause a differential block. Vasodilatation of the skin vessels of the lower limbs always occurred before any change in sensibility. The first changes in sensibility were inability to fell painful stimuli and warm stimuli; these two forms of sensibility were usually coextensive and oc...

PURPOSE We evaluated the impact of premature extrauterine life on brain maturation. PATIENTS AND METHODS Twelve neonates underwent MR imaging at 40 (39.64 +/- 0.98) weeks (full term). Fifteen premature infants underwent 2 MR imaging examinations, after birth (preterm at birth) and at 40 weeks (41.03 +/- 1.33) (preterm at term). A 3D MR imaging technique was used to measure brain volumes compa...