Motoneuronal death during human fetal development
- 1 October 1987
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Comparative Neurology
- Vol. 264 (1), 118-122
- https://doi.org/10.1002/cne.902640109
Abstract
The total number of ventral horn motoneurons throughout the spinal cord was determined for 19 human fetuses ranging in age from 11 to 32 menstrual weeks. There was a significant (∽35%) decline in motoneuron number between wks 11 and 25 of gestation, but no further decline from wks 25–32. Counts of pyknotic cells indicated a peak of motoneuronal degeneration between about wks 12 and 16 of age. The normal period of motoneuronal death observed here overlaps with the initiation of functional neuromuscular contact as well as the period of androgen production by the human fetal testes. As in rats, androgen may influence final motoneuron number in the human spinal cord by attenuating cell death in sexually dimorphic motor nuclei.Keywords
This publication has 32 references indexed in Scilit:
- Neonatal androgen maintains sexually dimorphic muscles in the absence of innervationMuscle & Nerve, 1988
- Ontogeny of functional innervation of bulbocavernosus muscles in male and female ratsDevelopmental Brain Research, 1987
- The absence of significant postnatal motoneuron death in the brachial and lumbar spinal cord of the ratJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1986
- Central distribution of efferent and afferent components of the pudendal nerve in macaque monkeysJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1985
- Motoneuron cell death in the developing lumbar spinal cord of the mouseDevelopmental Brain Research, 1982
- Synaptogenesis in the cervical cord of the human embryo: Sequence of synapse formation in a spinal reflex pathwayJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1979
- Cell death of motoneurons in the chick embryo spinal cord. III. The differentiation of motoneurons prior to their induced degeneration following limb‐bud removalJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1978
- Cell death in the development of the lateral motor column of the chick embryoJournal of Comparative Neurology, 1975
- Androgens in the human fetusJournal of Steroid Biochemistry, 1974
- Observations and experiments on spontaneous rhythmical behavior in the chick embryoDevelopmental Biology, 1963