Glioarchitectonics of the rat spinal cord

The glioarchitectonics of the rat spinal cord has been studied. The fibrous astrocytes are located in the white matter and according to their morphology three layers have been described. In the grey matter, protoplasmic astrocytes and some fibrous astrocytes in the periependymal commisures have been observed. The astrocytic distribution in grey and white matter seems to be uniform except two small condensations: one periependymal and the other in the deepest zone of the anterior medial groove. The protoplasmic astrocytes seem to be more related with the blood vessels than the fibrous astrocytes. The perineuronal astrocytes were scarce. Smooth protoplasmic astrocytes and perineuronal nets of glia have been also described in the grey matter.