Abstract

Understanding brain development and function requires unraveling synaptic connectivity in neuronal circuits. Because synaptic connections require physical contacts between axons and dendrites, neuronal arbor morphology may be used for inferring connectivity. We will develop statistical theoretical tools to help infer neuronal connectivity from new light microscopy data. We will focus on the following questions, serving as the specific aims of the proposal, i) Are spatial locations of dendritic and axonal branches correlated or independent? To answer this question we will perform statistical analysis of 3D reconstructions of neuronal pairs, ii) How does potential synaptic connectivity depend on the relative position of cortical neurons belonging to different layers? This question will be addressed by analyzing 3D reconstructions of single neurons from different cortical layers, iii) What rules govern the dynamics of spine remodeling? We will start by analyzing experimental data on spine growth and retraction from in vivo two-photon imaging of transgenic mice. All theoretical work will be carried out in close collaborations with several experimental groups.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH069838-02
Application #
6919304
Study Section
Cognitive Neuroscience Study Section (COG)
Program Officer
Glanzman, Dennis L
Project Start
2004-07-08
Project End
2009-06-30
Budget Start
2005-07-01
Budget End
2006-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2005
Total Cost
$305,100
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Department
Type
DUNS #
065968786
City
Cold Spring Harbor
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
11724

  Publications

Wen, Quan; Stepanyants, Armen; Elston, Guy N et al. (2009) Maximization of the connectivity repertoire as a statistical principle governing the shapes of dendritic arbors. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106:12536-41
Stepanyants, Armen; Hirsch, Judith A; Martinez, Luis M et al. (2008) Local potential connectivity in cat primary visual cortex. Cereb Cortex 18:13-28
Wen, Quan; Chklovskii, Dmitri B (2008) A cost-benefit analysis of neuronal morphology. J Neurophysiol 99:2320-8
Varshney, Lav R; Sjostrom, Per Jesper; Chklovskii, Dmitri B (2006) Optimal information storage in noisy synapses under resource constraints. Neuron 52:409-23
Stepanyants, Armen; Tamas, Gabor; Chklovskii, Dmitri B (2004) Class-specific features of neuronal wiring. Neuron 43:251-9
Chklovskii, Dmitri B (2004) Synaptic connectivity and neuronal morphology: two sides of the same coin. Neuron 43:609-17