SOME OBSERVATIONS ON NORMAL AND DEGENERATING TERMINAL BOUTONS IN THE INFERIOR OLIVE OF THE CAT

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Observations based on silver impregnation method of Glees (1946). The inferior olive was studied in normal animals and in animals with lesions of the spinal cord and brain stem. In the normal olive boutons are rather small and present varying degrees of impregnation. Some appear black. In the ventral lamina of the olive the boutons are numerous and many are of the solid type. This latter picture might easily be mistaken for degeneration of boutons. In degeneration experiments the boutons present an increased affinity for silver, become visible in greater numbers and the proportion of solid types is increased. Emphasis is placed on the fact that a very careful detailed study of normal conditions is essential before conclusions on degenerated terminals are made, because the difference between the normal and the degenerate is one of degree.