Cited by 322Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and ApplicationsMedical and Biological SciencesVisual perception and processing mechanisms

Distribution of axon diameters in cortical white matter: an electron-microscopic study on three human brains and a macaque.

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Liewald, Daniel, Miller, Robert, Logothetis, Nikos, Wagner, Hans-Joachim, Schüz, Almut·2014·Biological Cybernetics

Abstract

The aim of this study was to obtain information on the axonal diameters of cortico-cortical fibres in the human brain, connecting distant regions of the same hemisphere via the white matter. Samples for electron microscopy were taken from the region of the superior longitudinal fascicle and from the transitional white matter between temporal and frontal lobe where the uncinate and inferior occipitofrontal fascicle merge. We measured the inner diameter of cross sections of myelinated axons. For comparison with data from the literature on the human corpus callosum, we also took samples from that region. For comparison with well-fixed material, we also included samples from corresponding regions of a monkey brain (Macaca mulatta). Fibre diameters in human brains ranged from 0.16 to 9 μm. Distributions of diameters were similar in the three systems of cortico-cortical fibres investigated, both in humans and the monkey, with most of the average values below 1 μm diameter and a small population of much thicker fibres. Within individual human brains, the averages were larger in the superior longitudinal fascicle than in the transitional zone between temporal and frontal lobe. An asymmetry between left and right could be found in one of the human brains, as well as in the monkey brain. A correlation was also found between the thickness of the myelin sheath and the inner axon diameter for axons whose calibre was greater than about 0.6 μm. The results are compared to white matter data in other mammals and are discussed with respect to conduction velocity, brain size, cognition, as well as diffusion weighted imaging studies.

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  • Myelinated axons at three different sites of the corpus callosum in the human brain are estimated to have axon diameters of ≥0.50 μm, in 70-90% of cases (range 0.16-3.73 μm, mean 0.73 ± 0.55 μm).

    “For example, certain axonal and dendritic domains are less than 0.50 μm in diameter (Shepherd and Harris, 1998), and myelinated axons at three different sites of the corpus callosum in the human brain are estimated to have axon diameters of ≥0.50 μm, in 70–90% of cases (range 0.16–3.73 μm, mean 0.73 ± 0.55 μm) (Liewald et al., 2014).”

    From Human Brain/Cloud Interface (2019) · cites this paper as Liewald et al., 2014

    The Discussion (page unavailable) confirms that the authors sampled three corpus-callosum locations in two human brains, but the Results give a diameter range of 0.17–5.13 μm and averages of 0.64–0.74 μm for those samples. Table 1 (page unavailable) assigns 0.73 ± 0.55 μm and a 3.73 μm maximum to the left superior longitudinal fascicle of brain 1, not the corpus callosum. The passages found do not substantiate the claimed 70–90% at or above 0.50 μm. (LLM, conf=0.91)

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Research works printed but not linked: 3

  1. Aboitiz F, Ide A, Olivares R (2003) Corpus callosum morphology in relation to cerebral asymmetries in the postmortem human. In: Zaidel E, Iacoboni M (eds) The parallel brain: the cognitive neuroscience of the corpus callosum. MIT Press, Cambridge, pp 33–46
  2. Bürgel U (1999) Kartierung langer Faserbahnen im adulten menschlichen Gehirn. Geschlechtsunterschiede, Lateralisation und Variabilität. Dissertation at the Faculty of Medicine, Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf
  3. Palay LS Chan-Palay V Cereb Cortex 1974 Berlin Springer

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Authors
Liewald, D., Miller, R., Logothetis, N., Wagner, H.-J., & Schüz, A.
Affiliations
  • Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics (DE)
  • University of Otago (NZ)
  • University of Tübingen (DE)
Corresponding author
Schüz, Almut
Venue
Biological Cybernetics
Published
2014-08-21
Volume
108
Issue
5
Pages
541-557
ISSN
  • 0340-1200 (ISSN-L)
  • 1432-0770
OpenAlex
W2046529900
Cited by
322
References
98
Citations by year
2026: 16 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 25 · 2023: 36 · 2022: 39 · 2021: 37 · 2020: 39 · 2019: 35 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 21 · 2015: 4
FWCI
10.17
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Biological Cybernetics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging › Advanced Neuroimaging Techniques and Applications
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Anatomy › Medical and Biological Sciences
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Visual perception and processing mechanisms
Keywords
axon diameter, cortical white matter, superior longitudinal fasciculus, corpus callosum, myelinated axons, myelin thickness, hemispheric lateralization, human brain, macaque brain, conduction velocity, diffusion-weighted imaging
MeSH terms
Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Animals, Axons, Cerebral Cortex, Humans, Functional Laterality, Macaca mulatta, Male, Myelin Sheath, Electron Microscope Tomography, White Matter

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