Cytoarchitectural Organization and Neuronal Morphology of the Human Nucleus Accumbens: A Golgi-Cox and Nissl Post-Mortem Study

International Journal of Anatomy and Physiology | Vol. 15, No. 10, October 2026 | pp. 136–144

DOI: 10.46882/2026/IJAP/001016

Research Article

Title: Cytoarchitectural Organization and Neuronal Morphology of the Human Nucleus Accumbens: A Golgi-Cox and Nissl Post-Mortem Study

Names of Authors: V. Z. Radic¹, K. E. Lind²*

Authors’ Affiliations:
¹ Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia.
² Department of Neuroscience, Faculty of Medicine, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.

Abstract:
The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is a key limbic-motor interface involved in reward mechanisms, addiction, and emotional processing. Precise neuroanatomical data on its cellular subpopulations in humans remain limited. This post-mortem study characterized the cytoarchitecture and dendritic morphology of neurons within the core and shell subregions of the human NAc. Brain tissue blocks containing the ventral striatum were obtained from 10 neurologically normal adult autopsies (mean age 48.5 ± 5.4 years). Sections were processed using Golgi-Cox impregnation for dendritic tree tracings and Nissl staining for cell density mapping. Nissl analysis revealed that the NAc shell had a heterogeneous cell distribution with a lower overall cell packing density than the NAc core (18,400 ± 1,200 cells/mm³ vs. 23,100 ± 1,600 cells/mm³; p < 0.05). Golgi-Cox reconstructions identified medium spiny neurons (MSNs) as the dominant cell population (approx. 90%). MSNs in the core subregion displayed higher structural complexity, featuring a greater total dendritic length (1240 ± 95 μm) and elevated spine density (1.42 ± 0.11 spines/μm) on third-order branches compared to shell MSNs (p < 0.01). Large aspiny interneurons were distributed evenly across both zones. These detailed morphological findings map the baseline cellular framework of the human ventral striatum, providing structural reference points for studies on neurobiological adaptations in substance use disorders.

Keywords: Nucleus accumbens, Medium spiny neurons, Golgi-Cox, Nissl staining, Human neuroanatomy.

Manuscript Timeline: Received: June 30, 2026; Revised: September 01, 2026; Accepted: September 28, 2026; Published: October 30, 2026.

Citation: Radic VZ, Lind KE. Cytoarchitectural Organization and Neuronal Morphology of the Human Nucleus Accumbens: A Golgi-Cox and Nissl Post-Mortem Study. International Journal of Anatomy and Physiology. 2026; 15(10): 136–144. doi:10.46882/2026/IJAP/001016

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