Variations of the grid and place cells in the entorhinal cortex and dentate gyrus of 6 individuals aged 56 to 87 years

The relationship between the entorhinal cortex and the hippocampus has been studied by different authors, who have highlighted the importance of grid cells, place cells, and the trisynaptic circuit in the processes that they regulate: the persistence of spatial, explicit, and recent memory and their possible impairment with ageing. We aimed to determine whether older age causes changes in the size and number of grid cells contained in layer III of the entorhinal cortex and in the granular layer of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. We conducted post-mortem studies of the brains of 6 individuals aged 56-87 years. The brain sections containing the dentate gyrus and the adjacent entorhinal cortex were stained according to the Klüver-Barrera method, then the Image J software was used to measure the individual neuronal area, the total neuronal area, and the number of neurons contained in rectangular areas in layer III of the entorhinal cortex and layer II of the dentate gyrus. Statistical analysis was subsequently performed. We observed an age-related reduction in the cell population of the external pyramidal layer of the entorhinal cortex, and in the number of neurons in the granular layer of the dentate gyrus. Our results indicate that ageing causes a decrease in the size and density of grid cells of the entorhinal cortex and place cells of the dentate gyrus.