Hippocampal structure, nissl staining and cell counts along development.

<p><i>A,</i> lateral view of the left hemisphere of a rabbit (P30), vertical lines show the levels of the transversal sections studied. <i>B,</i> Drawing of the silhouettes; profiles of the transversal sections, from anterior to posterior, dark gray marks the hippocampus. <i>C</i>, Drawing of transparent sections with the exception of the hippocampus. <i>D</i>, Drawing as only an opaque molecular layer. <i>E</i>, Nissl staining in a transversal section of a P12 rabbit showing the extent of the molecular layer. <i>F,</i> Enlarged view of the molecular layer with some neuronal somata and abundant glial cells. <i>G,</i> Histogram showing the estimated mean numbers of the neurons in the molecular layer of one hemisphere for postnatal, young and adult rabbits (vertical bars mean deviation). <i>H,</i> Plots of the estimated numbers of neurons in the molecular layer of one hemisphere after the stereological study. <i>I,</i> Enlarged view of the first two months of life. <i>J,</i> Plots of the numbers of glia. <i>K,</i> Enlarged view of the first two months of life.