Human Raphe Magnus Nucleus: A morphometric Golgi-Cox study with emphasis on sex differences

Abstract

The number and proportion of neurons according to their type and size in the Raphe Magnus Nucleus stained by the Golgi-Cox and Nissl methods were compared in male and female infants. Four female/male pairs aged from 2 to 150 days were studied. While females showed more neurons than males, males showed a higher proportion of large multipolar (more than 40 μm) and fusiform neurons (more than 20 μm) but not of ovoid neurons (more than 15 μm). These differences varied according to the type of cells and age of infants. Some of these results are similar to those found in the human Median Raphe Nucleus with the same methods. © 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.