Stepanenko A.Y.
The influence of the skull linear dimensions on the size of human cerebellum
Abstract.
The objective of the study was to determine the influence of the length and the width of the skull on the size of the cerebellum. 185 human cerebella (114 – male and 74 – female) served as a material for the investigation. Methods used were morphometry, statistical analysis. The length and the width of the skull were measured, and their contribution to the overall capacity of the cranial average size was estimated by the formula r=√(drl), where r is an average size, d – length, l – width. The cerebellum mass was also measured. The dependence of the cerebellum mass on the linear dimensions was evaluated by the change in the mass per 1 cm change in linear dimension.
The length and the width of the skull are interconnected with correlation dependence (R=0,34) and influence the capacity of the skull (R=0,84 and 0,80, respectively), thus the growth of the length is accompanied by the dependent increase of the width, and is reflected in the increase of the skull capacity.
The length and the width of the skull influence the weight of the cerebellum. An increase by 1 cm of the length of the skull is accompanied by the increase of the cerebellum mass in men – by 12,2 g, in women – by 2,9 g, of the width by 7,2 and 7,3 g and of the average size – by 11,3 and 5,5 g, accordingly. The form of the skull does not influence the weight of the cerebellum, if its capacity is not changed. But the increase in the width of the skull with the increase in the cranial index and its equal length is accompanied by the increase of the cerebellum mass by 6,7 g/cm in men and is not accompanied – in women, and the decrease in the length of the skull when its width is the same is accompanied by the decrease in the cerebellar mass by 6,3 g / cm in men and is not accompanied – in women. Thus, the estimate of the dependence of the cerebellum mass on the average size of the skull allows to avoid errors introduced by the variability of the length, the width and the shape of the skull taken separately.
Key words: human being, skull, craniotype, cerebellum, individual variability.
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