Postnatal Changes in Morphology and Dendritic Organization of Neurones Located in the Area of the Kolliker-Fuse Nucleus of Rat

Abstract

The Kolliker-Fuse nucleus (KF) is an integral part of the central pattern generator for breathing and shows postnatal development of synaptic functions and cyto-architectural structure. Here, we analyzed the postnatal changes in cell morphology of biocytin-labelled KF neurones. Developmental analyses revealed an increasing size of somas and dendritic length. These changes were accompanied by changes in the orientation of the main dendritic branches from a diffuse orientation in neonates to a predominant medio-lateral orientation in juveniles. These developmental changes may allow for synaptic contacts with multiple ascending fibre tracts required for the processing of multi-modal respiratory inputs in the KF.