ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of progress in brain aging research on humans, non-human primates, and rodents with design-based stereology and reviews the main outcome of such investigations. It presents an introduction into the use of design-based stereologic methods that most neuroscientists interested in their use would need to analyze volumes of brain regions, numbers of cells within these brain regions, length densities of linear biological structures such as vessels and nerve fibers, and the cytoarchitecture of brain regions. The application of design-based stereologic methods to the analysis of the central nervous system has considerably contributed to our understanding of the functional and pathological morphology of the aging brain. The patterns of age-related neuron loss in the brain of nonhuman primates and rodents are not identical to that in the human brain and conflicting data have been reported. Substantial progress has been made in brain aging research by the use of design-based stereologic methods.
