EFFECTS ON THE BRAIN 1 85 



Following the subcutaneous transplantation of the cerebellum in white mice, 

 Laignel-Lavastine and Jonnesco ('12) described a lipoidal degeneration in the 

 Purkinje cells, which may be in part due to imperfect nutrition. Sundwall 

 ('17) found congestion but slight cytological changes in the cerebral cortex of 

 starved white rats. Asada ('19) made similar observations on fasting rabbits 

 and Findlay ('21) in birds (pigeons and fowls). The papers of Damlevski 

 C91) and Frankenberger ('17) were inaccessible. The effects of inanition 

 and other abnormal conditions upon nerve cells in general were reviewed by 

 Barbacci ('99), Robertson ('99), Marinesco ('09) and Bardier ('13). 



The changes in the nerve cells during hibernation have been studied by 

 several investigators. Querton ('98) claimed that there is a partial retraction 

 of the cortical neurones during hibernation, but this has not been confirmed. 

 Chromatolysis with changes resembling those described in the nerve cells during 

 starvation were found by Legge ('99) and by Barconcini and Beretta ('00) in 

 the bat and other hibernating mammals. Cajal ('04) verified the observation 

 of Tello that in reptiles coarse longitudinal neurofibrillae form during hiberna- 

 tion, but split up into finer fibrillae upon the awakening. Rasmussen and 

 Myers ('16) found no significant change in the chromophilous (Nissl) substance 

 in the woodchuck (Marmota monax) during hibernation. According to their 

 review of the literature, Legge, Baroncini and Beretta, and Marinesco ('05) 

 found marked changes in the Nissl substance during hibernation, while Levi 

 ('98) and Zalla ('10) observed no chromatolysis. Rasmussen ('19) also found 

 that " Complete inanition for 3 months during winter sleep and for 3 weeks after 

 waking does not modify the morphology, number or distribution of mitochondria 

 in nerve cells" (of cerebellum, spinal cord and spinal ganglia). 



Young Animals. — A few observations are available concerning the effects 

 of inanition upon the structure of the brain in young animals. Von Bechterew 

 ('95) found the brain softened and hyperemic (especially the gray matter) in 

 starved kittens and puppies. He concluded that: 



"Die mikroskopische Untersuchung des Gehirnes der verhungerten Neuge- 

 borenen zeigte ausser den Gewebsveranderungen, welche dem Hungertode 

 iiberhaupt eigenthiimlich sind und in ausgepragte Coagulationsnecrose und 

 dem Myelinzerfall in den Markscheidenhaltigen Fasern bestehen, eine Verspat- 

 ung in der Entwickelung und Markscheidenbekleidung derjenigen Systeme, 

 welche bis zum Antritt der Hungerperiode noch unentwickelt waren." 



The results of von Bechterew were confirmed and extended by Schukow 

 ('95), who found that the retardation of growth in brain weight of fasting new- 

 born puppies is due to failure of myelinization in tracts which had not already 

 begun to myelinize. Since in dogs the brain fibers are the latest to myelinize, 

 these parts are most retarded during inanition. In chicks 15-20 days old, the 

 brain weight is much less retarded. Intensive coagulation necrosis occurs in 

 the brain cells of fasting newborns. On refeeding, the lesions vanish and the 

 brain recovers in weight and development. If the newborn puppies are merely 

 undernourished by restricted nursing, the same pathological changes occur, but 

 they develop much more slowly. 



