Summary
Transection of the corpus callosum was carried out on 20 adult rats and the spatio-temporal pattern of the degeneration process was studied on the 2nd, 8th, 15th and 30th days following the operation for 3 segments of the axon, from the point of severance to the cerebral cortex.
In the distal segment of the severed axons degeneration set in simultaneously at the point of severance and in the terminal boutons. Anterograde progression of the process may exist, at least over a short distance. There is definite, though perhaps limited retrograde progression starting from the terminal boutons.
The conditions under which the total length of the fibre is affected, kinetically speaking, are the subject of a discussion. At the stages chosen for examination, only a part of the proximal endings are affected by Wallerian degeneration. At the same periods the proximal segment of the axons leading in the opposite direction in the corpus callosum, still appears intact, although the corresponding cellular bodies are in an advanced state of chromatolysis. During the degeneration of the distal segments the myelin sheath remains apparently normal, whereas the axoplasm is in an advanced state of desintegration.
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Demêmes, D., Fuentes, C. & Marty, R. Cinétique des processus de dégénérescence axonique dans le système nerveux central: Étude expérimentale à court terme dans le corps calleux chez le rat. Acta Neuropathol 29, 311–323 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00685484
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00685484