Three-dimensional morphometrical study of dendritic spines of the granule cell in the rat dentate gyrus with HVEM stereo images.

Number, length, and diameters of dendritic spines of the granule cell in the dorsal leaf of the rat dentate gyrus were measured by using high-voltage electron microscope stereo images of 5-micron-thick Golgi preparations with the aid of a three-dimensional image analyzer system. Spine densities of 2.02 +/- 0.28, 2.28 +/- 0.33, and 3.36 +/- 0.35 per 1 micron at distal, middle, and proximal portions of the dendrite were obtained. These values were about 1.6-fold of the previous light microscopical report. Mean three-dimensional spine length were 1.244 +/- 0.506 micron, 1.262 +/- 0.563 micron, and 1.254 +/- 0.584 micron at distal, middle, and proximal portions, respectively, which were about 1.4 times longer than those measured in two dimensions. By using measured morphometrical parameters of spines such as lengths, diameters, and population densities, total spine surface areas of 2.401 micron 2, 2.806 micron 2, and 4.180 micron 2 per 1 micron of the dendrite at distal, middle, and proximal portions, respectively, were obtained. The total surface area of dendrite was about doubled by the addition of the spines at each dendritic portion. The advantageous features and the problems of the present method are discussed.