BIOLOGIYA MORYA, 2004, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 143-151

Quasifractal organization of teleost encephalic neurons

© 2004 V. V. Isaeva¹, E. V. Puschina¹, Yu. A. Karetin²

¹Institute of Marine Biology, Far East Branch Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok 690041;
²Far Eastern State University, Vladivostok 690000

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The measurement of fractal dimension by box-counting method was used for quantitative description of morphological patterns of teleost encephalic neurons. Fractal dimension values were estimated for some types of neurons in Pholidapus dybowskii and Oncorhynchus keta; some human brain neurons were also used for comparison. It was shown that fractal dimension value as a quantifier of two-dimensional space filling with gray scale image of a cell varied from 1.22 to 1.72 in different neuronal types. Fractal dimension reached the highest values in less specialized neurons, which fulfill more diversified functions, whereas strictly specialized neurons were characterized by relatively low values of fractal dimension. Thus, fractal dimension value provides a quantifier of neuronal spatial complexity correlating with cellular morphological and functional organization.

Key words: fractal, fractal dimension, neurons, teleost encephalon.