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. 2015 Oct 5;5:14773. doi: 10.1038/srep14773

Figure 2. Morphological analysis of dendritic spines in the SNc dopamine neurons.

Figure 2

(a) Monochrome and three-dimensional (3D) reconstructed images of the dendritic segment (green and red images; shafts are green and spines are red). Red arrowheads indicate dendritic spines. A1-4, monochrome and 3D-reconstructed images of the yellow boxed regions in the SNc dopamine neurons and CA1 pyramidal neurons, respectively, at high magnification. Lower panels show monochrome and 3D-reconstructed images of mushroom, thin, and stubby-type spines in SNc dopamine neurons and CA1 pyramidal neurons. (b) Mean spine densities of SNc dopamine neurons and CA1 pyramidal neurons (SNc, from 80 dendrites in 34 cells; CA1, from 23 dendrites in 5 cells). (c) Distribution of each spine subtype in SNc dopamine neurons and CA1 pyramidal neurons (SNc, mushroom = 189; thin = 174; stubby = 125; CA1, mushroom = 42; thin = 44; stubby = 31). (d,e) Comparison of mean spine head diameters and maximum longitudinal lengths in three typical subtypes of spines in SNc dopamine neurons (mushroom = 189; thin = 174; stubby = 125) and CA1 pyramidal neurons (mushroom = 42; thin = 44; stubby = 31). (f) Distribution of dendritic spines in SNc dopamine neurons. Each segment of dendritic regions (marked as blue [proximal] and red [distal] rectangles in the reconstructed projection image of a SNc neuron) is expanded in the blue and red boxed insets, in which dendritic shafts are seen with dendritic spines in red. (g) Average spine densities in the proximal (0–80 μm; n = 80) and distal (80–200 μm; n = 35) dendritic regions. * and *** represent p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively, by unpaired t-test. Error bars represent SEM.