These tools will no longer be maintained as of December 31, 2024. Archived website can be found here. PubMed4Hh GitHub repository can be found here. Contact NLM Customer Service if you have questions.


Pubmed for Handhelds

PUBMED FOR HANDHELDS

Search MEDLINE/PubMed

  • Title: Chronic alcohol consumption reduces the cortical layer volumes and the number of neurons of the rat cerebellar cortex.
    Author: Tavares MA, Paula-Barbosa MM, Cadete-Leite A.
    Journal: Alcohol Clin Exp Res; 1987 Jun; 11(3):315-9. PubMed ID: 3307500.
    Abstract:
    Past work showed that chronic alcohol consumption induces massive degeneration in the rat cerebellar cortex. In order to provide details of these effects, the cortical cell numbers and the cerebellar layer volumes were studied in adult rats fed alcohol for 1, 3, 6, 12, and 18 months and compared with respective age-matched controls. Significant decreases of granular and molecular layer volumes were found after 3 and 6 months of alcohol feeding, respectively. No significant differences were found in the Purkinje cell layer volume. Neuron countings showed that granule cells and molecular layer interneurons were the earliest and most severely affected populations. A decrease in the number of Purkinje cells was observed only after 18 months of alcohol consumption and Golgi cells were not significantly reduced. Thus, we concluded that cerebellar neurons have a selective vulnerability to alcohol which might alter the balance between excitatory and inhibitory limbs of the cerebellar circuitry.
    [Abstract] [Full Text] [Related] [New Search]