Angioarchitectonics of rat cerebellar cortex during pre- and postnatal development

Summary The adult arrangement and the development of stem vessels and capillaries was studied in the rat cerebellum. In principle, stem vessels branch and terminate at three levels: (1) the molecular layer, (2) the Purkinje cell-granular layer, and (3) the cerebellar white matter. All stem vessels are interconnected by the capillary network which is most dense in the Purkinje cell—granular layer. As in the neocortex, the stem vessels of the cerebellum are formed successively during development, so that the later they are formed the more superficial are their terminations. The formation of multiple stem vessels in the depths of fissures and sulci during both pre- and postnatal development may correlate to regional variations in, e.g., mitotic frequency or thickness of the external granular layer. The earliest endo-parenchymal branches are formed before the first neurons are present. Capillary growth by sprouting during the postnatal period parallels known regional differences in the timing of the neuronal maturation, e.g., increased synaptic density and oxidative metabolism. The findings in this investigation confirm and extend the results of an earlier morphometric study on capillary development in the cerebellar cortex. Although the angiogenetic factors remain unknown, the hypothesis of a link between the vascularization and the functional maturation of the brain is corroborated by the results. Knowledge of the normal vascular development seems necessary for an understanding of brain morphogenesis and for interpretation of primary pathogenetic mechanisms in various intoxications etc.