Tract tracing, neuronal morphology and ultrastructural studies in human postmortem brain

Classical and modern neuroanatomical techniques are applied to an analysis of the neuroanatomical basis of schizophrenia using postmortem brain tissue from the Maryland Brain Collection. Techniques for Golgi staining of cell bodies and dendritic arbors, axonal tract tracing with the carbocyanine dye, DiI and ultrastructural analyses will be used to study brain tissue with postmortem times of less than 6 hours. Although these techniques are routinely used in animal models, they are rarely used for studying human brain tissue. These techniques will allow us to characterize neuronal architecture in normal and diseased brains.