Sloppy morphological tuning in identified neurons of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion
- Brandeis University, United States
- University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Q-State Biosciences, United States
Abstract
Neuronal physiology depends on a neuron's ion channel composition and unique morphology. Variable ion channel compositions can produce similar neuronal physiologies across animals. Less is known regarding the morphological precision required to produce reliable neuronal physiology. Theoretical studies suggest that morphology is tightly tuned to minimize wiring and conduction delay of synaptic events. We utilize high-resolution confocal microscopy and custom computational tools to characterize the morphologies of four neuron types in the stomatogastric ganglion (STG) of the crab Cancer borealis. Macroscopic branching patterns and fine cable properties are variable within and across neuron types. We compare these neuronal structures to synthetic minimal spanning neurite trees constrained by a wiring cost equation and find that STG neurons do not adhere to prevailing hypotheses regarding wiring optimization principles. In this highly-modulated and oscillating circuit, neuronal structures appear to be governed by a space-filling mechanism that outweighs the cost of inefficient wiring.
Article and author information
Author details
Adriane G Otopalik
Funding
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R37NS17813)
- Eve Marder
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (F31NS092126)
- Adriane G Otopalik
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2017, Otopalik et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Sloppy morphological tuning in identified neurons of the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion
eLife 6:e22352.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.22352
