Corpus striatum in infants under the age of one year: A quantitative morphological study

A quantitative morphological study of the corpus striatum was carried out on the brains of 13 infants under the age of 8 months. The brain of a fetus born after 7 months of pregnancy was also examined. The findings are compared with the results of a previously published similar examination of the corpus striatum in the adult. Most of the children died suddenly and unexpectedly at ages between birth and 8 months. The examination of the brains did not reveal any signs indicating a cerebral cause of death. The volume of the striatum and pallidum was found to be positively correlated to the weight of the brain. The number of nerve cells and glial cells and the distribution was recorded. The number of neurones in the corpus striatum of the fetus, the child and the adult are virtually the same. The density of the neurones, however, is very different in the infant from that of the adult, since the volume of the striatum increases considerably with age. The number of glial cells is significantly smaller in the infant striatum than in the adult. The distribution of the glial cells in the adult striatum is bimodal, with a satellite relationship between the nerve and glial cells, whereas the distribution of the infant glial cells is unimodal, without any satellite phenomenon.