Skip Navigation


Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on July 6, 2004
Cerebral Cortex 2005 15(2):152-165; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhh118
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
15/2/152    most recent
bhh118v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (10)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Binzegger, T.
Right arrow Articles by Martin, K. A.C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Binzegger, T.
Right arrow Articles by Martin, K. A.C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Cerebral Cortex V 15 N 2 © Oxford University Press 2005; all rights reserved

Article

Axons in Cat Visual Cortex are Topologically Self-similar

Tom Binzegger1,2, Rodney J. Douglas1 and Kevan A.C. Martin1

1 Institute of Neuroinformatics, University of Zürich and ETH Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland and 2 Henry Wellcome Building for Neuroecology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK

The axonal arbors of the different types of neocortical and thalamic neurons appear highly dissimilar when viewed in conventional 2D reconstructions. Nevertheless, we have found that their one-dimensional metrics and topologies are surprisingly similar. To discover this, we analysed the axonal branching pattern of 39 neurons (23 spiny, 13 smooth and three thalamic axons) that were filled intracellularly with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) during in vivo experiments in cat area 17. The axons were completely reconstructed and translated into dendrograms. Topological, fractal and Horton–Strahler analyses indicated that axons of smooth and spiny neurons had similar complexity, length ratios (a measure of the relative increase in the length of collateral segments as the axon branches) and bifurcation ratios (a measure of the relative increase in the number of collateral segments as the axon branches). We show that a simple random branching model (Galton–Watson process) predicts with reasonable accuracy the bifurcation ratio, length ratio and collateral length distribution of the axonal arbors.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
T. Binzegger, R. J. Douglas, and K. A. C. Martin
Stereotypical Bouton Clustering of Individual Neurons in Cat Primary Visual Cortex
J. Neurosci., November 7, 2007; 27(45): 12242 - 12254.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurosci.Home page
J. Torres-Reveron and M. J. Friedlander
Properties of Persistent Postnatal Cortical Subplate Neurons
J. Neurosci., September 12, 2007; 27(37): 9962 - 9974.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurophysiol.Home page
Y. Shu, A. Duque, Y. Yu, B. Haider, and D. A. McCormick
Properties of Action-Potential Initiation in Neocortical Pyramidal Cells: Evidence From Whole Cell Axon Recordings
J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2007; 97(1): 746 - 760.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
A. Schuz, D. Chaimow, D. Liewald, and M. Dortenman
Quantitative Aspects of Corticocortical Connections: A Tracer Study in the Mouse
Cereb Cortex, October 1, 2006; 16(10): 1474 - 1486.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Cereb CortexHome page
Y. Kawaguchi, F. Karube, and Y. Kubota
Dendritic Branch Typing and Spine Expression Patterns in Cortical Nonpyramidal Cells
Cereb Cortex, May 1, 2006; 16(5): 696 - 711.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.