TY - JOUR
T1 - Neuronal loss in layers V and VI of cerebral cortex in Huntington's disease
AU - Hedreen, John C.
AU - Peyser, Carol E.
AU - Folstein, Susan E.
AU - Ross, Christopher A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Grant NS16375. C.R. is supported by MH43040, and is a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. Portions of these data were presenteda t the meetingo f the Association for Clinical Neuropsychopharmacolog1y9, 90,and at the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) meeting, 1991.
PY - 1991/12/9
Y1 - 1991/12/9
N2 - Neuronal loss in the cerebral cortex in Huntington's disease (HD) has not been well documented, nor has its laminar pattern been definitively established. We therefore counted neurons in individual cortical laminae in the dorsal frontal cortex of 5 HD and 5 control autopsy brains. Significant neuronal loss (to 57% of control, P = 0.002) was found in layer VI of HD brains. These cells project principally to the thalamus, the claustrum and other regions of cerebral cortex; thus their loss is unlikely to be the result of retrograde degeneration secondary to striatal pathology. Layer V neurons were also decreased (to 71% of control, P = 0.034). Degeneration of cerebral cortical neurons may be at least partly responsible for some of the non-choreic symptoms of HD, such as dementia, irritability, apathy, and depression.
AB - Neuronal loss in the cerebral cortex in Huntington's disease (HD) has not been well documented, nor has its laminar pattern been definitively established. We therefore counted neurons in individual cortical laminae in the dorsal frontal cortex of 5 HD and 5 control autopsy brains. Significant neuronal loss (to 57% of control, P = 0.002) was found in layer VI of HD brains. These cells project principally to the thalamus, the claustrum and other regions of cerebral cortex; thus their loss is unlikely to be the result of retrograde degeneration secondary to striatal pathology. Layer V neurons were also decreased (to 71% of control, P = 0.034). Degeneration of cerebral cortical neurons may be at least partly responsible for some of the non-choreic symptoms of HD, such as dementia, irritability, apathy, and depression.
KW - Cortical laminae
KW - Glutamate receptor excitotoxicity
KW - Huntington's disease
KW - Neuron counting
KW - Neuronal degeneration
KW - Prefrontal cortex
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U2 - 10.1016/0304-3940(91)90583-F
DO - 10.1016/0304-3940(91)90583-F
M3 - Article
C2 - 1840078
AN - SCOPUS:0025885733
SN - 0304-3940
VL - 133
SP - 257
EP - 261
JO - Neuroscience Letters
JF - Neuroscience Letters
IS - 2
ER -