Aging and the human neocortex

Pakkenberg, B

doi:10.1016/s0531-5565(02)00151-1

Cited by 485Medical and Biological SciencesAging and Gerontology ResearchNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Aging and the human neocortex

Pakkenberg, B·2003·Experimental Gerontology

DOI 10.1016/s0531-5565(02)00151-1

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Abstract

Neurostereology has been applied to quantitative anatomical study of the human brain. Such studies have included the total neocortical number of neurons and glial cells, the estimated size distribution of neocortical neurons, the total myelinated fiber length in the brain white matter, the total number of synapses in the neocortex, and the effect of normal aging on these structural elements. The difference in total number of neurons was found to be less than 10% over the age range from 20 to 90 years, while the glial cell number in six elderly individuals, mean age 89.2 years, showed an average number of 36 billion glial cells, which was not statistically significantly different from the 39 billion glial cells in the neocortex of six young individuals with a mean age of 26.2 years. The total myelinated fiber length varied from 150,000 to 180,000 km in young individuals and showed a large reduction as a function of age. The total number of synapses in the human neocortex is approximately 0.15 x 10(15) (0.15 quadrillion). Although the effect of aging is seen in all estimated structural elements, the effect of sex is actually higher. The functional relevance of these differences in neuron numbers in both age and gender is not known.

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Published estimates of neocortical neuron number vary by as much as a factor of 2, between 14.7 and 32.0 billion neurons.
“published estimates of the number of neocortical neurons varies by as much as a factor of 2 (between 14.7 to 32.0 billion neurons) (Pakkenberg and Gundersen, 1997; Pakkenberg et al., 2003).”
From The Cellular and Molecular Landscapes of the Developing Human Central Nervous System (2016) · cites this paper as Pakkenberg et al., 2003
Published estimates of the number of synapses received by an individual neocortical neuron range from approximately 7,200 to 29,642.
“The published estimates for the number of synapses an individual neocortical neuron receives also vary between approximately 7,200 (Pakkenberg et al., 2003; Tang et al., 2001) and 29,642 synapses (DeFelipe et al., 2002).”
From The Cellular and Molecular Landscapes of the Developing Human Central Nervous System (2016) · cites this paper as Pakkenberg et al., 2003

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Authors: Pakkenberg, B.
Affiliations: Bispebjerg Hospital (DK)
Corresponding author: Pakkenberg, B
ORCID: Pakkenberg, B
Venue: Experimental Gerontology
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Published: 2003-01
Volume: 38
Issue: 1-2
Pages: 95-99
ISSN: 0531-5565 (ISSN-L)
DOI: 10.1016/s0531-5565(02)00151-1
OpenAlex: W2003837387
Cited by: 485
References: 22
Citations by year: 2026: 20 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 15 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 28 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 30 · 2015: 22 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 16 · 2012: 18
FWCI: 28.89
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: closed
Licence: www.elsevier.com/tdm/userlicense/1.0/ (tdm)
Locations: Experimental Gerontology (publishedVersion)
PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics: Health Sciences › Medicine › Anatomy › Medical and Biological Sciences
Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
Keywords: brain aging, human neocortex, neuron number, glial cells, white matter, sex differences, brain structure
MeSH terms: Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Aging, Brain, Cell Count, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Nerve Fibers, Myelinated, Neuroglia, Neurons, Synapses, Neocortex, Cell Size

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Aging and the human neocortex

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