scholarly journals Comparing the electrophysiology and morphology of human and mouse layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons with Bayesian networks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojan Mihaljević ◽  
Pedro Larrañaga ◽  
Concha Bielza

ABSTRACTPyramidal neurons are the most common neurons in the cerebral cortex. Understanding how they differ between species is a key challenge in neuroscience. We compared human temporal cortex and mouse visual cortex pyramidal neurons from the Allen Cell Types Database in terms of their electrophysiology and basal dendrites’ morphology. We found that, among other differences, human pyramidal neurons had a higher threshold voltage, a lower input resistance, and a larger basal dendritic arbor. We learned Gaussian Bayesian networks from the data in order to identify correlations and conditional independencies between the variables and compare them between the species. We found strong correlations between electrophysiological and morphological variables in both species. One result is that, in human cells, dendritic arbor width had the strongest effect on input resistance after accounting for the remaining variables. Electrophysiological variables were correlated, in both species, even with morphological variables that are not directly related to dendritic arbor size or diameter, such as mean bifurcation angle and mean branch tortuosity. Contrary to previous results, cortical depth was correlated with both electrophysiological and morphological variables, and its effect on electrophysiological could not be explained in terms of the morphological variables. Overall, the correlations among the variables differed strikingly between human and mouse neurons. Besides identifying correlations and conditional independencies, the learned Bayesian networks might be useful for probabilistic reasoning regarding the morphology and electrophysiology of pyramidal neurons.

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojan Mihaljević ◽  
Pedro Larrañaga ◽  
Concha Bielza

Pyramidal neurons are the most common neurons in the cerebral cortex. Understanding how they differ between species is a key challenge in neuroscience. We compared human temporal cortex and mouse visual cortex pyramidal neurons from the Allen Cell Types Database in terms of their electrophysiology and dendritic morphology. We found that, among other differences, human pyramidal neurons had a higher action potential threshold voltage, a lower input resistance, and larger dendritic arbors. We learned Gaussian Bayesian networks from the data in order to identify correlations and conditional independencies between the variables and compare them between the species. We found strong correlations between electrophysiological and morphological variables in both species. In human cells, electrophysiological variables were correlated even with morphological variables that are not directly related to dendritic arbor size or diameter, such as mean bifurcation angle and mean branch tortuosity. Cortical depth was correlated with both electrophysiological and morphological variables in both species, and its effect on electrophysiology could not be explained in terms of the morphological variables. For some variables, the effect of cortical depth was opposite in the two species. Overall, the correlations among the variables differed strikingly between human and mouse neurons. Besides identifying correlations and conditional independencies, the learned Bayesian networks might be useful for probabilistic reasoning regarding the morphology and electrophysiology of pyramidal neurons.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojan Mihaljević ◽  
Pedro Larrañaga ◽  
Ruth Benavides-Piccione ◽  
Javier DeFelipe ◽  
Concha Bielza

Abstract Pyramidal neurons are the most common cell type in the cerebral cortex. Understanding how they differ between species is a key challenge in neuroscience. A recent study provided a unique set of human and mouse pyramidal neurons of the CA1 region of the hippocampus, and used it to compare the morphology of apical and basal dendritic branches of the two species. The study found inter-species differences in the magnitude of the morphometrics and similarities regarding their variation with respect to morphological determinants such as branch type and branch order. We use the same data set to perform additional comparisons of basal dendrites. In order to isolate the heterogeneity due to intrinsic differences between species from the heterogeneity due to differences in morphological determinants, we fit multivariate models over the morphometrics and the determinants. In particular, we use conditional linear Gaussian Bayesian networks, which provide a concise graphical representation of the independencies and correlations among the variables. We also extend the previous study by considering additional morphometrics and by formally testing whether a morphometric increases or decreases with the distance from the soma. This study introduces a multivariate methodology for inter-species comparison of morphology.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bojan Mihaljević ◽  
Pedro Larrañaga ◽  
Ruth Benavides-Piccione ◽  
Javier DeFelipe ◽  
Concha Bielza

ABSTRACTPyramidal neurons are the most common cell type in the cerebral cortex. Understanding how they differ between species is a key challenge in neuroscience. A recent study provided a unique set of human and mouse pyramidal neurons of the CA1 region of the hippocampus, and used it to compare the morphology of apical and basal dendritic branches of the two species. The study found inter-species differences in the magnitude of the morphometrics and similarities regarding their variation with respect to morphological determinants such as branch type and branch order. We use the same data set to perform additional comparisons of basal dendrites. In order to isolate the heterogeneity due to intrinsic differences between species from the heterogeneity due to differences in morphological determinants, we fit multivariate models over the morphometrics and the determinants. In particular, we use conditional linear Gaussian Bayesian networks, which provide a concise graphical representation of the independencies and correlations among the variables. We also extend the previous study by considering additional morphometrics and by formally testing test whether a morphometric increases or decreases with the distance from the soma. This study introduces a multivariate methodology for inter-species comparison of morphology.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 5398-5414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yair Deitcher ◽  
Guy Eyal ◽  
Lida Kanari ◽  
Matthijs B Verhoog ◽  
Guy Antoine Atenekeng Kahou ◽  
...  

Abstract There have been few quantitative characterizations of the morphological, biophysical, and cable properties of neurons in the human neocortex. We employed feature-based statistical methods on a rare data set of 60 3D reconstructed pyramidal neurons from L2 and L3 in the human temporal cortex (HL2/L3 PCs) removed after brain surgery. Of these cells, 25 neurons were also characterized physiologically. Thirty-two morphological features were analyzed (e.g., dendritic surface area, 36 333 ± 18 157 μm2; number of basal trees, 5.55 ± 1.47; dendritic diameter, 0.76 ± 0.28 μm). Eighteen features showed a significant gradual increase with depth from the pia (e.g., dendritic length and soma radius). The other features showed weak or no correlation with depth (e.g., dendritic diameter). The basal dendritic terminals in HL2/L3 PCs are particularly elongated, enabling multiple nonlinear processing units in these dendrites. Unlike the morphological features, the active biophysical features (e.g., spike shapes and rates) and passive/cable features (e.g., somatic input resistance, 47.68 ± 15.26 MΩ, membrane time constant, 12.03 ± 1.79 ms, average dendritic cable length, 0.99 ± 0.24) were depth-independent. A novel descriptor for apical dendritic topology yielded 2 distinct classes, termed hereby as “slim-tufted” and “profuse-tufted” HL2/L3 PCs; the latter class tends to fire at higher rates. Thus, our morpho-electrotonic analysis shows 2 distinct classes of HL2/L3 PCs.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Eyal ◽  
Matthias B. Verhoog ◽  
Guilherme Testa-Silva ◽  
Yair Deitcher ◽  
Ruth Benavides-Piccione ◽  
...  

AbstractWe present the first-ever detailed models of pyramidal cells from human neocortex, including models on their excitatory synapses, dendritic spines, dendritic NMDA- and somatic/axonal- Na+ spikes that provided new insights into signal processing and computational capabilities of these principal cells. Six human layer 2 and layer 3 pyramidal cells (HL2/L3 PCs) were modeled, integrating detailed anatomical and physiological data from both fresh and post mortem tissues from human temporal cortex. The models predicted particularly large AMPA- and NMDA- conductances per synaptic contact (0.88 nS and 1.31nS, respectively) and a steep dependence of the NMDA-conductance on voltage. These estimates were based on intracellular recordings from synaptically-connected HL2/L3 pairs, combined with extra-cellular current injections and use of synaptic blockers. A large dataset of high-resolution reconstructed HL2/L3 dendritic spines provided estimates for the EPSPs at the spine head (12.7 ± 4.6 mV), spine base (9.7 ± 5.0 mV) and soma (0.3 ± 0.1 mV), and for the spine neck resistance (50 – 80 MΩ). Matching the shape and firing pattern of experimental somatic Na+-spikes provided estimates for the density of the somatic/axonal excitable membrane ion channels, predicting that 134 ± 28 simultaneously activated HL2/L3- HL2/L3 synapses are required for generating (with 50% probability) a somatic Na+ spike. Dendritic NMDA spikes were triggered in the model when 20 ± 10 excitatory spinous synapses were simultaneously activated on individual dendritic branches. The particularly large number of basal dendrites in HL2/L3 PCs and the distinctive cable elongation of their terminals imply that ~25 NMDA- spikes could be generated independently and simultaneously in these cells, as compared to ~14 in L2/3 PCs from the rat temporal cortex. These multi-sites nonlinear signals, together with the large (~30,000) excitatory synapses/cell, equip human L2/L3 PCs with enhanced computational capabilities. Our study provides the most comprehensive model of any human neuron to-date demonstrating the biophysical and computational distinctiveness of human cortical neurons.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bastiaan van der Veen ◽  
Sampath K. T. Kapanaiah ◽  
Kasyoka Kilonzo ◽  
Peter Steele-Perkins ◽  
Martin M. Jendryka ◽  
...  

AbstractPathological impulsivity is a debilitating symptom of multiple psychiatric diseases with few effective treatment options. To identify druggable receptors with anti-impulsive action we developed a systematic target discovery approach combining behavioural chemogenetics and gene expression analysis. Spatially restricted inhibition of three subdivisions of the prefrontal cortex of mice revealed that the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) regulates premature responding, a form of motor impulsivity. Probing three G-protein cascades with designer receptors, we found that the activation of Gi-signalling in layer-5 pyramidal cells (L5-PCs) of the ACC strongly, reproducibly, and selectively decreased challenge-induced impulsivity. Differential gene expression analysis across murine ACC cell-types and 402 GPCRs revealed that - among Gi-coupled receptor-encoding genes - Grm2 is the most selectively expressed in L5-PCs while alternative targets were scarce. Validating our approach, we confirmed that mGluR2 activation reduced premature responding. These results suggest Gi-coupled receptors in ACC L5-PCs as therapeutic targets for impulse control disorders.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (38) ◽  
pp. 11891-11903 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Polsky ◽  
B. Mel ◽  
J. Schiller

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1672) ◽  
pp. 20140193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katerina D. Oikonomou ◽  
Mandakini B. Singh ◽  
Matthew T. Rich ◽  
Shaina M. Short ◽  
Srdjan D. Antic

Thin basal dendrites can strongly influence neuronal output via generation of dendritic spikes. It was recently postulated that glial processes actively support dendritic spikes by either ceasing glutamate uptake or by actively releasing glutamate and adenosine triphosphate (ATP). We used calcium imaging to study the role of NR2C/D-containing N -methyl- d -aspartate (NMDA) receptors and adenosine A1 receptors in the generation of dendritic NMDA spikes and plateau potentials in basal dendrites of layer 5 pyramidal neurons in the mouse prefrontal cortex. We found that NR2C/D glutamate receptor subunits contribute to the amplitude of synaptically evoked NMDA spikes. Dendritic calcium signals associated with glutamate-evoked dendritic plateau potentials were significantly shortened upon application of the NR2C/D receptor antagonist PPDA, suggesting that NR2C/D receptors prolong the duration of calcium influx during dendritic spiking. In contrast to NR2C/D receptors, adenosine A1 receptors act to abbreviate dendritic and somatic signals via the activation of dendritic K + current. This current is characterized as a slow-activating outward-rectifying voltage- and adenosine-gated current, insensitive to 4-aminopyridine but sensitive to TEA. Our data support the hypothesis that the release of glutamate and ATP from neurons or glia contribute to initiation, maintenance and termination of local dendritic glutamate-mediated regenerative potentials.


2010 ◽  
Vol 103 (6) ◽  
pp. 3070-3083 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rishikesh Narayanan ◽  
Sumantra Chattarji

Dendritic atrophy and impaired long-term synaptic potentiation (LTP) are hallmarks of chronic stress-induced plasticity in the hippocampus. It has been hypothesized that these disparate structural and physiological correlates of stress lead to hippocampal dysfunction by reducing postsynaptic dendritic surface, thereby adversely affecting the availability of synaptic inputs and suppressing LTP. Here we examine the validity of this framework using biophysical models of hippocampal CA3 pyramidal neurons. To statistically match with the experimentally observed region specificity of stress-induced atrophy, we use an algorithm to systematically prune three-dimensional reconstructions of CA3 pyramidal neurons. Using this algorithm, we build a biophysically realistic computational model to analyze the effects of stress on intrinsic and synaptic excitability. We find that stress-induced atrophy of CA3 dendrites leads to an increase in input resistance, which depends exponentially on the percentage of neuronal atrophy. This increase translates directly into higher spiking frequencies in response to both somatic current injections and synaptic inputs at various locations along the dendritic arbor. Remarkably, we also find that the dendritic regions that manifest atrophy-induced synaptic hyperexcitability are governed by the region specificity of the underlying dendritic atrophy. Coupled with experimentally observed modulation of N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor currents, such hyperexcitability could tilt the balance of plasticity mechanisms in favor of synaptic potentiation over depression. Thus paradoxically, our results suggest that stress may impair hippocampal learning and memory, not by directly inhibiting LTP, but because of stress-induced facilitation of intrinsic and synaptic excitability and the consequent imbalance in bidirectional synaptic plasticity.


1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 1735-1739 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis Paré ◽  
Elen Lebel ◽  
Eric J. Lang

Paré, Denis, Elen LeBel, and Eric J. Lang. Differential impact of miniature synaptic potentials on the somata and dendrites of pyramidal neurons in vivo. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 1735–1739, 1997. We studied the impact of transmitter release resistant to tetrodotoxin (TTX) in morphologically identified neocortical pyramidal neurons recorded intracellularly in barbiturate-anesthetized cats. It was observed that TTX-resistant release occurs in pyramidal neurons in vivo and at much higher frequencies than was previously reported in vitro. Further, in agreement with previous findings indicating that GABAergic and glutamatergic synapses are differentially distributed in the somata and dendrites of pyramidal cells, we found that most miniature synaptic potentials were sensitive to γ-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) or α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) antagonists in presumed somatic and dendritic impalements, respectively. Pharmacological blockage of spontaneous synaptic events produced large increases in input resistance that were more important in dendritic (≈50%) than somatic (≈10%) impalements. These findings imply that in the intact brain, pyramidal neurons are submitted to an intense spike-independent synaptic bombardment that decreases the space constant of the cells. These results should be taken into account when extrapolating in vitro findings to intact brains.


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