Stereological study of the neuronal number and volume of 38 brain subdivisions of subjects diagnosed with autism reveals significant alterations restricted to the striatum, amygdala and cerebellum

Table 1 Parameters and procedures applied to estimate the volume of brain subdivisions and number of neurons

Structures and their subdivisions	Number of sections examined (per case)	Obj. (Vol.)	Obj. (Numb.)	Grid size (μm) for fractionator	Test area frame × height (μm)	Number of counting spaces (per case)	Number of neurons counted (per case)	CE*
Amygdala (four nuclei)	12	1.25x	40x	1000 × 1000	80 × 80 × 10	356	454	0.01
Thalamus	6	1.25x	40x	1000 × 1000	80 × 80 × 10	188	313	0.01
Entorhinal c.
LII	6	2.5x	40x	400 × 400	60 × 60 × 30	113	164	0.003
LIII	6	2.5x	40x	800 × 800	60 × 60 × 30	118	277
LV	6	2.5x	40x	600 × 600	60 × 60 × 30	62	161
LVI	6	2.5x	40x	800 × 800	60 × 60 × 30	68	184
CA1	14	2.5x	40x	1000 × 1000	60 × 60 × 30	207	543	0.003
CA2	14	2.5x	40x	400 × 400	60 × 60 × 30	121	337
CA3	14	2.5x	40x	400 × 400	60 × 60 × 30	144	330
CA4	14	2.5x	40x	600 × 600	100 × 100 × 30	130	429
Caudate nucleus	9	2.5x	40x	1400 × 1400	60 × 60 × 30	270	751	0.04
Putamen	9	2.5x	40x	1400 × 1400	60 × 60 × 30	309	844
Globus pallidus	6	2.5x	40x	300 × 300	80 × 80 × 30	1953	505
Nucleus accumbens	6	2.5x	40x	700 × 700	60 × 60 × 30	202	749
Magnocellular LGB	4	5x	40x	500 × 500	100 × 100 × 30	96	230	0.002
Parvocellular LGB	4	5x	40x	500 × 500	100 × 100 × 30	134	1,418	0.002
Claustrum	13	1.25x	40x	250 × 250	60 × 60 × 10	274	318	0.01
Substantia nigra	10	2.5x	40x	500 × 500	80 × 80 × 30	366	493	0.002
Magnocellular basal complex (Ch1-Ch4)	16	2.5x	40x	500 × 500	80 × 80 × 30	323	507	0.005
Dentate nucleus	11	2.5x	40x	1000 × 1000	180 × 180 × 30	335	792	0.002
Inferior olive	8	2.5x	40x	1000 × 1000	180 × 180 × 30	213	364	0.002
Cerebellum	8	1.25x	20x	1800 × 1800	180 × 180 × 30	1419	773	0.05

Number of sections examined = mean number of equidistant sections examined per structure/case.
Obj. (Vol.) = Objective lens (1.25x, 2.5x, or 5x) used to provide final magnification for planimetry and volumetry.
Obj. (Numb.) = Objective lens (40x or 20x) used for fractionator to estimate neuronal density and total number of neurons.
*CE = the average predicted Coefficient of Error of the neuronal counts (Scheaffer).

ISSN: 2051-5960