ISSN:
1432-0878
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Medicine
Notes:
Summary The observation that the myelin sheaths of human optic fibers seem to form first at the distal end of the tract with a progress of myelination toward the eye was tested by assays of cholesterol and cholesterol esters in segments of human optic nerves and tracts at various phases of development. It was found that the distal to proximal progress of myelination relates mainly to the fact that adult human optic fibers contain in their distal portion about twice the amount of cholesterol that occurs in the proximal portion. This gradient in cholesterol content along the fibers develops gradually in children. If the progress of cholesterol deposition is expressed as a percentage of the adult values, the proximo-distal differences are small, suggesting that myelination develops only slightly faster at the distal end.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00369289
