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Updated: Jun 12, 2026
Abbiategrasso Brain Bank Protocol for Collecting, Processing and Characterizing Aging Brains
Published on: June 3, 2020
A morphometric examination of neuronal and glial cell pathology in the orbitofrontal cortex in late-life depression
Ahmad Khundakar1, Christopher Morris, Arthur Oakley
1Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. ahmad.khundakar@ncl.ac.uk
Background:
The orbitofrontal cortex has been implicated as a key component in depression by several imaging studies. This study aims to examine morphometrically glial cell and neuronal density and neuronal volume in the orbitofrontal cortex of late-life major depression patients.
Methods:
Post mortem tissue from 13 patients with major depression and 11 matched controls was obtained and analyzed using the optical disector and nucleator methods.
Results:
No changes were found in glial cell, pyramidal or non-pyramidal neuron density, or in non-pyramidal and pyramidal neuron volume in the orbitofrontal cortex.
Conclusions:
Based on previous findings, this study suggests variability in morphological changes within the orbitofrontal cortex, as well as the prefrontal cortex as a whole.
