Effects of alcohol and aging on the cingular (area 24) and frontal (area 6) cortical areas of the mouse

N. Marrero-Gordillo, M.M. Pérez-Delgado, E. Carmona-Calero, H. Pérez-González, R. Ferres-Torres and A. Castañeyra-Perdomo

Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain

Offprint requests to: Dr. N. Marrero-Gordillo, Departamento de Anatomía, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de La Laguna, 38320 Tenerife, Spain

Summary. We have studied the morphometric changes of the neurons of the cingular area 24 and frontal area 6 of the mouse, produced by age and/or chronic alcohol intake. The parameters analyzed were nuclear area of these cortical neurons and cellular density (cell/neuropil coefficient). We detected a decrease in the number of neurons with age in practically all layers of the control animals. In the animals that chronically ingested the alcoholic solution, we also detected a decrease in the number of neurons with age, but only in layer V of the frontal cortex and in layer VI of the cingular area 24. The comparison between the control and the alcoholic group showed that alcohol intake caused an increase in the nuclear area of the neurons in layer II-III of the frontal cortex at 180 days, while in the cingular cortex the increase in nuclear area of its neurons was significative at 180 days in layer II-III and at 35 and 180 days in layers V and VI. We think that these changes are the expression of the neuronal plasticity in both cortical areas in response to the alcohol exposure. Histol. Histopathol. 13, 611-617 (1998)

Key words: Alcohol, Aging, Motor cortex, Cingular cortex, Morphometry, Cellular density, Mouse

DOI: 10.14670/HH-13.611