Evidence for nonrandom regression of dendrites of Purkinje neurons during aging.

This study examined dendritic networks of Purkinje neurons for randomness of age-related changes in cerebella from Fischer 344 rats at three ages. Terminal dendritic segments were studied in relation to their distance from the neuronal soma (path length). The data indicated that the terminal dendritic segments furthest from the cell body were preferentially affected during aging and there was a redistribution of the remaining terminal segments in cells from rats of the intermediate age group. The data also suggested that dendritic regrowth occurred in proximal regions of networks from rats in the oldest group.