Quantitative cytoarchitecture point differences in experimental cortical hemiatrophy found by automatic image analysis

: For more than ten years automatic analysis procedures have been applied to explore cortical cytoarchitectonics of the brain. The investigations presented were carried out by a method described as "automatic morphocorticography". Attempts to find out quantitative criteria for early unilateral cortical alterations were carried out on a pig's brain with experimental cortical hemiatrophy caused artificially by wide spread meningeal fibrosis. Lateral differences of the relative volume density (V alpha) of all cells could be analysed for each cortical layer in detail by the automatically plotted morphocorticographs (MCG) of selected cortical parts from both hemispheres. Partial increases in the V alpha-values could be found in the whole cross-section of the cerebral cortex from the experimentally damaged hemisphere and the same value increases of between 10 and 15% were found in the 3rd an 5th cortical layer in particular. In contrast the mean values of the relative numerical cellular density in the whole cortical cross-section remained without significant changes. It can be concluded that the early alterations caused by this type of damage are predominantly due to changes in the neuropil structures.