Dendritic branching angles of pyramidal cells across layers of the juvenile rat somatosensory cortex. Issue 13 (18th February 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Leguey, Ignacio; Bielza, Concha; Larrañaga, Pedro; Kastanauskaite, Asta; Rojo, Concepción; Benavides‐Piccione, Ruth; DeFelipe, Javier
• Is Part Of: Journal of comparative neurology. Volume 524:Issue 13(2016)
• Page Start: 2567
• Page End: 2576
• Publication Date: 2016-02-18
• Subjects: neuronal geometrical design -- Jones‐Pewsey and von Mises directional statistics -- branching dendritic angles -- cortical layers -- nif‐0000‐10474 -- nif‐0000‐10294 -- RGD_5508396; Comparative neurobiology -- Periodicals; Neurology -- Periodicals; 616
• DOI: 10.1002/cne.23977
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0021-9967

Abstract

Abstract : The characterization of the structural design of cortical microcircuits is essential for understanding how they contribute to function in both health and disease. Since pyramidal neurons represent the most abundant neuronal type and their dendritic spines constitute the major postsynaptic elements of cortical excitatory synapses, our understanding of the synaptic organization of the neocortex largely depends on the available knowledge regarding the structure of pyramidal cells. Previous studies have identified several apparently common rules in dendritic geometry. We study the dendritic branching angles of pyramidal cells across layers to further shed light on the principles that determine the geometric shapes of these cells. We find that the dendritic branching angles of pyramidal cells from layers II–VI of the juvenile rat somatosensory cortex suggest common design principles, despite the particular morphological and functional features that are characteristic of pyramidal cells in each cortical layer. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:2567–2576, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Abstract : Exploring the dendritic branching angles of pyramidal cells across layers to further shed light on the principles that determine the geometric shapes of these cells, we found that the dendritic branching angles of pyramidal cells display common design principles, despite the particular morphological and functional features that are characteristic of each cortical layer in the juvenile rat somatosensory cortex.