Table 2.
Purkinje cell dendritic arborization and spine density in 27 essential tremor cases and 27 controls
| Essential tremor cases | Controls | Percentage differencea | Significance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total dendrite length (µm) | 8605.9 ± 6909.9 (5712.1) | 11 658.5 ± 5734.2 (10 403.2) | 45.1% | P = 0.01b |
| Branch length (µm) | 515.9 ± 174.3 (465.9) | 600.3 ± 134.2 (592.5) | 21.4% | P = 0.01b |
| Maximum branch order | 23.4 ± 8.4 (22.5) | 29.6 ± 6.5 (29.0) | 22.4% | P = 0.001b |
| Number of terminations | 211.0 ± 164.1 (165.3) | 311.1 ± 153.8 (311.7) | 47.0% | P = 0.008b |
| Dendritic spine density (µm − 1) | 0.79 ± 0.21 (0.82) | 0.97 ± 0.20 (1.02) | 18.6% | P = 0.03b |
Values are mean ± standard deviation (median).
aPercentage difference between the median value of cases versus the median value of controls.
bMann Whitney test.
In a subanalysis in which we excluded 12 cases and two controls whose Braak Alzheimer’s disease score was >2, the percentage difference between the median value of the cases versus controls persisted: total dendrite length (51.7%), branch length (22.8%), maximum branch order (25.8%), number of terminations (53.8%), and dendritic spine density (18.5%).