Postnatal development of the feline lateral cervical nucleus: I. A quantitative light and electron microscopic study

With the aim of obtaining some basic information for future developmental studies, the lateral cervical nucleus (LCN) was investigated in 32 kittens of different ages by electron microscopic and stereologic methods. Corresponding light microscopic measurements of neuronal and nuclear profiles and of the total LCN volume were also performed. The total LCN volume increased sixfold between the ages of 12 hours and 120 days, the most rapid increase occurring during the first month. The neuronal size was fairly constant up to the age of 9 days, whereafter it showed greater variation. The mean profile area increased rapidly during the second week and then more slowly. The relative volume of boutons increased significantly between birth and the age of 34 days and then decreased slightly up to 120 days postnatally. The total bouton volume showed a steady increase, which was most pronounced between the ages of 9 and 34 days. The relative dendritic volume decreased during the 120 days of observation, whereas the total volume of dendrites increased up to the age of 92 days and then decreased. The total volume of glial cells increased during the 120-day observation period, as did both the relative and total volumes of myelinated axons. The changes in the relative volumes of mitochondria in boutons and dendrites were very similar, with increases that were most marked between the ages of 9 and 34 days and between 92 and 120 days.