Towards a Terminologia Anatomica Humana.

Unfortunately, the long-awaited revision of the official anatomical nomenclature, the Terminologia Anatomica 2 (TA2), which was issued in 2019 and after a referendum among the Member Societies officially approved by the General Assembly of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists in 2020, is built on a new version of the Regular Anatomical Terminology (RAT) rules. This breaks with many traditional views of terminology. These changes in the Terminologia Anatomica of 1998 (TA98) met great resistance within many European Anatomical Societies and their members are not willing to use terms following the RAT rules.

The Representation of White Matter in the Central Nervous System.

The white matter of the central nervous system (CNS) is difficult to represent in anatomy because it is located predominantly "between" other anatomical entities. In a classic presentation, like a cross section of a brain segment, white matter is present and can be labeled adequately. Several appearances of the same entity are feasible on successive cross section views.

Toward a Common Terminology for the Gyri and Sulci of the Human Cerebral Cortex.

The gyri and sulci of the human brain were defined by pioneers such as Louis-Pierre Gratiolet and Alexander Ecker, and extensified by, among others, Dejerine (1895) and von Economo and Koskinas (1925). Extensive discussions of the cerebral sulci and their variations were presented by Ono et al. (1990), Duvernoy (1992), Tamraz and Comair (2000), and Rhoton (2007).

Towards a Terminologia Neuroanatomica.

This article deals with a recent revision of the terminology of the Sections Central Nervous System (CNS; Systema nervosum centrale) and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS; Systema nervosum periphericum) of the Terminologia Anatomica (TA, 1998) and the Terminologia Histologica (TH, 2008). These sections were extensively updated by the Federative International Programme for Anatomical Terminology (FIPAT) Working Group Neuroanatomy of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA). After extensive discussions by FIPAT, and consultation with the IFAA Member Societies, these parts were merged to form a Terminologia Neuroanatomica (TNA).

Development of the human cerebellum and its disorders.

The cerebellum arises from two anatomically and molecularly different proliferative compartments: the cerebellar ventricular zone and the rhombic lip. The protracted development makes the cerebellum vulnerable to a broad spectrum of developmental disorders, of which the more frequent (the Dandy-Walker and related malformations and the pontocerebellar hypoplasias) are discussed in this article. Several genes for congenital malformations of the human cerebellum have recently been identified, including genes causing Joubert syndrome, the Dandy-Walker malformation, and pontocerebellar hypoplasias.

Calbindin-D28k immunoreactivity in the spinal cord of Xenopus laevis and its participation in ascending and descending projections.

Immunohistochemistry for calbindin-D28k (CB) revealed that the spinal cord of Xenopus laevis possess a large number of CB-containing neurons widely distributed in both the dorsal and ventral horns, including areas which possess long ascending projections to supraspinal structures. In addition, the presence of CB-immunoreactive axons in the spinal funiculi suggested that descending projections containing this calcium binding protein may originate in different brainstem nuclei. Apart from mapping CB-containing elements in the spinal cord, a double labeling approach was used that combined the retrograde transport of dextran amines with CB immunohistochemistry.

Expression pattern of apoptosis-related markers in Huntington's disease.

Inappropriate apoptosis has been implicated in the mechanism of neuronal death in Huntington's disease (HD). In this study, we report the expression of apoptotic markers in HD caudate nucleus (grades 1-4) and compare this with controls without neurological disease. Terminal transferase-mediated biotinylated-UTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL)-positive cells were detected in both control and HD brains.

Creatine protects against 3-nitropropionic acid-induced cell death in murine corticostriatal slice cultures.

In murine corticostriatal slice cultures, we studied the protective effects of the bioenergetic compound creatine on neuronal cell death induced by the mitochondrial toxin 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP). 3-NP caused a dose-dependent neuronal degeneration accompanied by an increased lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity in the cell culture medium. An increased ratio of lactate to pyruvate concentration in the medium suggested that metabolic activity shifted to anaerobic energy metabolism.

Insulin inhibits amyloid beta-induced cell death in cultured human brain pericytes.

Amyloid-beta (Abeta) deposition in the cerebral arterial and capillary walls is one of the characteristics of Alzheimer's disease and hereditary cerebral hemorrhage with amyloidosis-Dutch type. In vitro, Abeta1-40, carrying the "Dutch" mutation (DAbeta1-40), induced reproducible degeneration of cultured human brain pericytes (HBP), by forming fibrils at the cell surface. Thus, this culture system provides an useful model to study the vascular pathology seen in Alzheimer's disease.

Analysis of the embryonic phenotype of Bent tail, a mouse model for X-linked neural tube defects.

Neural tube defects, mostly believed to result from closure defects of the neural tube during embryonic development, are frequently observed congenital malformations in humans. Since the etiology of these defects is not well understood yet, many animal models for neural tube defects, either arising from spontaneous mutations or generated by gene targeting, are being studied. The Bent tail mouse is a model for X-linked neural tube defects.

Expression of the cytokine leukemia inhibitory factor and pro-apoptotic insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 in Alzheimer's disease.

Amyloid-beta (Abeta) deposition in cerebral blood vessel walls is one of the key features of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Abeta(1-40) carrying the "Dutch" mutation (DAbeta(1-40)) induces rapid degeneration of cultured human brain pericytes (HBP). To study the mechanisms of this Abeta-induced toxicity, a comparative cDNA expression array was performed to detect differential gene expression of Abeta-treated versus untreated HBP.

3-Nitropropionic acid induces cell death and mitochondrial dysfunction in rat corticostriatal slice cultures.

Exposure of organotypic rat corticostriatal slice cultures to the mitochondrial toxin 3-nitropropionic acid (3-NP) resulted in concentration-dependent loss of cresylviolet-stained cells and increase of lactate dehydrogenase and lactate efflux into the culture medium, indicators for cell death and metabolic activity in the slices, respectively. The involvement of apoptosis in these slices was suggested by using the terminal transferase-mediated biotinylated-UTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) technique, and immunohistochemistry for the apoptosis-related markers Bax and Bcl-2. In 3-NP-exposed slices, TUNEL-positive cells were observed in both the striatum and the cortex but in different forms: striatal neurons were either diffusely stained or showed nuclear fragmentation, cortical neurons only exhibiting nuclear fragmentation.

Descending supraspinal pathways in amphibians: III. Development of descending projections to the spinal cord in Xenopus laevis with emphasis on the catecholaminergic inputs.

In developmental stages of the clawed toad, Xenopus laevis, we describe the ontogeny of descending supraspinal connections, catecholaminergic projections in particular, by means of retrograde tracing techniques with dextran amines. Already at embryonic stages (stage 40), spinal projections from the reticular formation, raphe nuclei, Mauthner neurons, vestibular nuclei, the locus coeruleus, the interstitial nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus, the posterior tubercle, and the periventricular nucleus of the zona incerta are well developed. At the beginning of the premetamorphic period (stage 46), spinal projections arise from the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the torus semicircularis, the pretectal region, and the ventral telencephalon.

Nonmuscular involvement in merosin-negative congenital muscular dystrophy.

The spectrum of nonmuscular involvement in six children with merosin-negative congenital muscular dystrophy is described. In all children, biochemical, neuroradiologic, cardiac, and neurophysiologic studies were performed. Cerebral structures that were myelinated at gestation, including internal capsule, corpus callosum, brainstem, and cerebellar white matter, demonstrated no abnormalities, whereas the periventricular and subcortical white matter, which were myelinated in the first postnatal year, demonstrated signs of leukoencephalopathy.