Application of modified Sholl analysis to neuronal dendritic arborization of the cat spinal cord

The drawings of Golgi-impregnated neurons from laminae I to VI in dorsal horn of the cat spinal cord were analysed morphometrically with a modified Sholl method of concentric circles. In order to advance the Sholl analysis of neuronal dendritic arborization patterns, we developed a new method of data presentation using polynomial regression and defining three parameters: the critical value of the circle radius (which defines the place of a possible circle intersecting maximum number of dendrites), the maximum number of dendritic intersections with the circles (counted for consecutive circles placed starting at the cell body to the border of the dendritic tree), and the mean value of the fitted polynomial function (which describes an average property concerning numbers of branches of dendritic tree over the whole region occupied by the dendritic arbor). For that purpose we also used the Sholl regression coefficient as well as the Schoenen ramification index. As an illustration of our model, we demonstrate that proposed modification of the Sholl method can successfully discriminate neuronal populations among different laminae of the, cat spinal cord. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.