Authors:

Andres Uzcategui

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About Paper:

Cortical layer 5B pyramidal neurons (L5B PN) project to various cortical and subcortical regions, forming the major excitatory output of the neocortex . Morphologically, these neurons are characteristic with bushy basal dendrites and long apical dendrites originating from L5B and extending to the cortical surfaces. The apical dendrites of L5B PNs integrate information across multiple layers of the cortex, generating global dendritic activities, which is critical for sensory perception. Previous research shows correlation between the apical dendrite morphology with diverse patterns of global events, suggesting that morphological difference could allow parsing of distinct integrated information to different downstream pathways. Yet, given the heterogeneity of morphology and electrophysiology across the L5B PN population, the correlation between neuronal morphology and their down-stream projection target remained poorly mapped. This research aims to quantify the morphological differences between PNs based on their projection targets. L5B PNs in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) projecting to PoM, SC and pons are labeled through retrograde tracing. We used ImageJ and integrated plugins to analyze two- photon imaging datasets from retrograde labeled L5B PNs for morphological analysis and comparison. In a separate cohort of retrograde labeled mice, we imaged cryotome brain slices to quantify the density and co-localization of these anatomically defined L5B PNs groups. In future studies, the reconstructed morphology of the anatomically defined subgroups may be corroborated with their electrophysiological properties to reveal the biophysical basis of subtype-specific computations. Keywords: Neuroscience; Neuron Morphology; Two Photon Microscopy

Source:

Purdue University / 2024

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No topics listed

Co-authors:

Andres Uzcategui