Dictionary of Biological Psychology
A procedure for estimating parameters of CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM cells or nuclei. Introduced in the early 1990s, stereology provides efficient algorithms for counting cells in defined areas of the brain (such as discrete nuclei), measuring the volumes of those nuclei, or the diameter, area or volume of neuronal or glial cells themselves. Stereology is based on rigorous statistical principles for unbiased sampling.
It allows automation of the microscopic sampling procedures, and the algorithms are both more accurate and much more efficient than conventional procedures based on ABERCROMBIE CORRECTION of total or randomly sampled cell counts in serial sections.
See also: cavalieri principle; disector stereology; image analysis; optical fractionater
Reference
Gundersen H.J.G., Bendtsen T.F., Korbo L., Marcussen N., Møller A., Nielsen K., Nyengaard J.R., Pakkenberg B., Sørensen F.B., Vesterby A. & West M.J. (1988) Some new, simple and efficient stereological methods and their use in pathological research and diagnosis. Acta Pathologica, Microbiologica et Immunologica Scandinavica 96:379–394.
STEPHEN B.DUNNETT
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