TABLE 3.

Types of Glial Cells contributing to the Total Number of Glia in the Human Brain.

Oligodendrocytes	Astrocytes	Microglia	Comments	Authors	Year
29%	61.5%	9.5%	Visual Cortex	Kryspin-Exner	1952
40%	54%		Caudatum	Kryspin-Exner	1952
57%			Pallidum	Kryspin-Exner	1952
52–74%	30–40%	6–8%	Thalamus	Kryspin-Exner	1952
77.5%			Nucleus ruber	Kryspin-Exner	1952
62%			Substantia nigra, pc	Kryspin-Exner	1952
29–77.5%	30–61.5%	6–9.5%	various regions	Glees	1955
			Review of Kryspin-Exner’s work
51%	40%	9%	Motor Cortex, layer V	Brownson	1956
45%	45%	10%	GM	Pope	1958
<67%	>23%	10%	WM	Pope	1958
52%	39%	9%	Motor Cortex	Windle (Brownson)	1958
45%	45%	10%	GM	Windle (Pope)	1958
67%			WM	Windle (Pope)	1958
36.6%	46.5%	16.8%	Frontal Cortex GM	Pope	1959
69%	24%	6.9%	Frontal Cortex WM	Pope	1959
50.9% *	40.8% *	16.7% **	Frontal Cortex	Schlote	1959
45%	45%	10%	Cortex	Blinkov & Glezer	1968
24.5–69.2% *	25.6–63.2% *	9–28.1% **	Data: Schlote, 1959	Hess & Thalheimer	1971
75%	19%	6%	Neocortex GM	Pelvig et al.	2003
5%	80%	10–15%	CNS	Verkhratsky & Butt	2007
74.6–75.6%	17.3–20.2%	5.2–6.5%	Males, females Neocortex (GM) Pelvig et al.		2008
		15–18%	Males, Neocortex	Lyck et al.	2009
75%	20%	5%	Neocortex (GM)	Verkhratsky & Butt	2013

GM, grey matter; WM, white matter; studies reporting primary data are shaded in .

^*Note: These numbers from Schlote’s 1959 data are compiled according to Hess and Thalheimer (1971), and adjusted for the percentages among glial cells (microglia and endothelial cells are assumed at a 1:1 ratio). As pointed out by Hess and Thalheimer (1971), the figure legends in Schlote (1959) erroneously switched the symbols for astroglia and oligodendroglia. This may explain some text books reporting of an abundance of astroglia vs. oligodendrocytes (e.g., Verkhratsky and Butt, 2007).

^**Note: This percentage includes microglia plus endothelial cells.