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Morphological basics for reorganization of the rat cerebellar cortex during senescence

  • Morphological Basics for Evolution of Functions
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Abstract

A histological and immunohistochemical investigation of the cerebellar cortex was performed in senescent (36-month-old) versus young (3-month-old) Wistar rats. In senescent animals, the cerebellar cortex typically displays degeneration of the Purkinje cells accompanied by a loss of the calcium-binding protein calbindin. This finding suggests that the presence of calbindin in the Purkinje cells is a criterion of their functional activity. Degeneration of the Purkinje cells is also accompanied by a lesion of the synaptophysin-containing basket-cell networks indicative of impaired function of inhibitory (GABAergic) axo-axonal synapses. During senescence, significant reorganization occurs in the glomeruli of the cerebellar granular layer responsible for primary analysis of afferent information. The synaptophysin-reactive glomerular structures in the cerebellum of senescent animals disintegrate reflecting an alteration in the transmission of sensory information from the cerebrum to cerebellum.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Experimental Medicine of the North-West Branch of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    E. G. Gilerovich, E. A. Fedorova, I. P. Grigor’ev & D. E. Korzhevskii

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  1. E. G. Gilerovich
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  2. E. A. Fedorova
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  3. I. P. Grigor’ev
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  4. D. E. Korzhevskii
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Correspondence to E. G. Gilerovich.

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Original Russian Text © E.G. Gilerovich, E.A. Fedorova, I.P. Grigor’ev, D.E. Korzhevskii, 2015, published in Zhurnal Evolyutsionnoi Biokhimii i Fiziologii, 2015, Vol. 51, No. 5, pp. 370—376.

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Gilerovich, E.G., Fedorova, E.A., Grigor’ev, I.P. et al. Morphological basics for reorganization of the rat cerebellar cortex during senescence. J Evol Biochem Phys 51, 421–427 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093015050087

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0022093015050087

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