Experimental reorganization of the cerebellar cortex. II. Effects of elimination of most microneurons with prolonged x-irradiation started at four days

Abstract The heads of Long‐Evans rats were irradiated from the fourth day after birth with a schedule of repeated doses of low‐level x‐ray which essentially prevented the formation of basket, stellate and granule cells in all except the earliest‐forming lobules (nodulus and uvula). The morphogenic and synaptogenic effects of this treatment were examined with light and electron microscopy in 30 day old animals, with particular attention paid to the pyramis. Although when irradiation was started the Purkinje cells formed a monolayer and had upward oriented apical poles, they became scattered later and had randomly oriented dendrites. This secondary disorientation was attributed to insufficient space available in the arrested cerebellum for the rapidly expanding Purkinje cells. Although basket cell terminals were scarce, basket cell‐like terminals were formed on the somata of Purkinje cells, apparently by recurrent axon collaterals of these cells. The most common synapses with the thorns of Purkinje dendrites were formed by climbing fibers but other elements, including glial processes, were also in contact with postsynaptic loci on the thorns. Many mossy fiber terminals reached the surface. Where parallel fibers were present they were often thicker than in unirradiated animals and contained neurofilaments. No pathological changes were seen in these cerebella, with the possible exception of excessive lobulation of the nuclei of many Purkinje cells.