Multi-aspect testing and ranking inference to quantify dimorphism in the cytoarchitecture of cerebellum of male, female and intersex individuals: a model applied to bovine brains

Abstract

The dimorphism among male, female and freemartin intersex bovines, focusing on the vermal lobules VIII and IX, was analyzed using a novel data analytics approach to quantify morphometric differences in the cytoarchitecture of digitalized sections of the cerebellum. This methodology consists of multivariate and multi-aspect testing for cytoarchitecture-ranking, based on neuronal cell complexity among populations defined by factors, such as sex, age or pathology. In this context, we computed a set of shape descriptors of the neural cell morphology, categorized them into three domains named size, regularity and density, respectively. The output and results of our methodology are multivariate in nature, allowing an in-depth analysis of the cytoarchitectonic organization and morphology of cells. Interestingly, the Purkinje neurons and the underlying granule cells revealed the same morphological pattern: female possessed larger, denser and more irregular neurons than males. In the Freemartin, Purkinje neurons showed an intermediate setting between males and females, while the granule cells were the largest, most regular and dense. This methodology could be a powerful instrument to carry out morphometric analysis providing robust bases for objective tissue screening, especially in the field of neurodegenerative pathologies.

The primary visual cortex of Cetartiodactyls: organization, cytoarchitectonics and comparison with perissodactyls and primates

“…The same approach has been used for every grouping variable, that is the species, the phylogenetic grouping and the orbit orientation, as it was used in previous works (Corain et al 2020).…”

“…The resulting populations of cells were then analyzed through Matlab function algorithms (Matlab, Mathworks, Natick, MA, USA), identifying cell area, perimeter, and shape descriptors circularity, solidity, extent and a surface density (number of cells in a radius of 50 µm for any given cell). Given the thickness of the Sections (5 µm), no overlapping of cells could be expected, however an estimation of volume density would overestimate the number of neurons (for details see Corain et al 2020). This measure allows us to perform comparisons across brains of different sizes, and implicitly assess how neuron count and neuron size is scaling with the brain volume.…”

Anatomical organization of the lateral cervical nucleus in Artiodactyls

“…This is the opposite of the situation found in other nuclei in the bovine compared to the pig (Graïc et al 2018 ). Further studies on neuronal morphometry could clarify this point (Grisan et al 2018 ; Corain et al 2020 ). The bovine and porcine LCN contained a low percentage of CB-D28k-IR cells; these presented large somata in both species, suggesting their potential involvement in the cervicothalamic pathway.…”

“…Furthermore, ruminants and suidae have large convoluted brains characterized by high level structures that can process information related to pain signals (Ballarin et al, 2016 ; Minervini et al 2016 ; Graïc et al 2018 ; Pirone et al 2018 , 2019 ; Corain et. al 2020 ; Peruffo et al 2019 ; Cozzi et al 2020 ). Therefore, in the present study, thionine staining combined with morphometrical analyses were used to determine the previously uncharted cytoarchitectonic characteristics of the LCN in calves ( Bos taurus ) and pigs ( Sus scrofa ).…”

“…It must be noted that the latest studies on the anatomical organization of the LCN in the different species date back to about twenty years ago. Furthermore, ruminants and suidae have large convoluted brains characterized by high level structures that can process information related to pain signals (Ballarin et al, 2016;Minervini et al 2016;Graïc et al 2018;Pirone et al 2018Pirone et al , 2019Corain et. al 2020;Peruffo et al 2019;Cozzi et al 2020).…”