Volumes of the cytoarchitectonic areas in the rat cerebral cortex

The volumes of the isocortical, periallocortical and allocortical areas were measured in the brains of nine 6 month old male Wistar rats. After perfusion fixation with Bodian's solution, determination of brain weight, paraffin embedding and serial sectioning, the areal volumes were estimated with the Cavalieri method and corrected for individual brain shrinkage. Thus, fresh volumes were measured. The present report provides comprehensive data on the volumes of the cortical areas of one hemisphere in normal adult rats and can be used as a reference for allometric and experimental studies.