The best method is to survey areas with known, well-defined laminated cell
populations such as cerebellum, hippocampus, olfactory bulb, or defined
subcortical nuclei such as cranial nerve nuclei. More difficult are areas with
multiple, overlapping, and intermingled neuronal populations such as cerebral
cortex, thalamus, and hypothalamus, particularly where small neurons
may be difficult to distinguish from glial cells. Cell identification for neurons
can be facilitated by observation of synaptic structures terminating on cell
(Figures 9.1 to 9.3), or by observation of typical features such as axon or
dendritic structures.
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Obviously, tightly laminated and dense cell populations
such as granule cell neurons of cerebellum and hippocampus or larger
projection neurons in other regions are easiest.
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