Human PCs host expanded sites for putative input and spines with complex morphology.
A) Example 3D reconstructions of human and mouse spiny dendrites (background removed for clarity) with inset schematic of spine types: thin (solid arrowhead), mushroom (open arrowhead), branched (back-to-back arrowheads), cluster (star). B) Density of all spines (left) and by spine type in human and mouse (n = 15,12 branches). C) Spine densities by branch location relative to the soma (Student’s paired one way t-test for promixal vs distal compartments; n = 5,4 cells) D) Spine head diameters of thin and mushroom spines (Student’s t-test; n = 2066,1246 spines). E) Spine neck length by species (Student’s t-test; n = 2323,1376 spines). F) Ratio of spine head volume to volume surrounding the dendrite (Student’s t-test; n = 15,12 branches). G) Spine head diameter by branch location (ANOVA, Tukey’s HSD post-hoc; n = 345,478,424 spines in human, 676,767,812 in mouse). H) Spine to surround ratios by branch location (n = 4,4 branches). I) Example spine cluster with enlarged neck diameter and spine head. J) Spine cluster density, included in the total density in (B, left). K) Spine cluster density by branch location, included in the total density in (C, left) (Student’s one way t-test for promixal vs distal compartments; n=5 individuals). L) Number of puncta per cluster by branch location (n = 46,67,76 spines). M) Spine cluster head volume by branch location (n = 46,67,76 spines). N) Spine cluster diameter as a function of puncta number (n = 189 spines). Blue points are means by puncta number. O) Total puncta across spine clusters on each branch segment by location and normalized to the proximal branch (Student’s one way t-test for promixal vs distal compartments; n = 5 individuals).