Classical and Contemporary Histochemical Approaches for Evaluating Central Nervous System Microanatomy
Nathan M. Appel · Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences · 1997
Arthur Toga (UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif.): Given the fact that a lot of the anatomic nomenclature has been defined historically prior to the use of the chemo-architectural visions you have shown us, do you think that a lot of the nomenclature and the way in which we catalog or describe brain is going to be influenced by these emerging and lovely ways of looking at brain? Appel: I don't know whether they will, but I hope so. It is very hard to sit down with the old anatomy books and the new anatomy books and then go to a meeting and know whether you are talking about the same thing as the presenter. I would like the nomenclature to evolve with the additional information we get. Question: Do you know of any work where an attempt was made to make better dye? I am thinking of the in vitro stain that you alluded to. Has something been made that could be used for analysis of an aldehyde-fixed postmortem tissue, which, of course, would help us understand human neuroanatomy much better. Appel: The dye I referred to is called Fluoro-Jade. It is a fluorescent stain used to reveal degenerating neurons and their processes. The staining technique was developed by Dr. Larry Schmued of the FDA National Center for Toxicological Research. The paper is in press in the journal Brain Research.