Objective Morphological Classification of Neocortical Pyramidal Cells

Abstract A consensus on the number of morphologically different types of pyramidal cells (PCs) in the neocortex has not yet been reached, despite over a century of anatomical studies, due to the lack of agreement on the subjective classifications of neuron types, which is based on expert analyses of...

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Published in:Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. 1991) Vol. 29; no. 4; pp. 1719 - 1735
Main Authors: Kanari, Lida, Ramaswamy, Srikanth, Shi, Ying, Morand, Sebastien, Meystre, Julie, Perin, Rodrigo, Abdellah, Marwan, Wang, Yun, Hess, Kathryn, Markram, Henry
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States Oxford University Press 01.04.2019
Subjects:
neuronal classification
rat somatosensory cortex
pyramidal cells
neuronal morphology
topological data analysis
ISSN:1047-3211, 1460-2199, 1460-2199
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Abstract A consensus on the number of morphologically different types of pyramidal cells (PCs) in the neocortex has not yet been reached, despite over a century of anatomical studies, due to the lack of agreement on the subjective classifications of neuron types, which is based on expert analyses of neuronal morphologies. Even for neurons that are visually distinguishable, there is no common ground to consistently define morphological types. The objective classification of PCs can be achieved with methods from algebraic topology, and the dendritic arborization is sufficient for the reliable identification of distinct types of cortical PCs. Therefore, we objectively identify 17 types of PCs in the rat somatosensory cortex. In addition, we provide a solution to the challenging problem of whether 2 similar neurons belong to different types or to a continuum of the same type. Our topological classification does not require expert input, is stable, and helps settle the long-standing debate on whether cell-types are discrete or continuous morphological variations of each other.
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ISSN:1047-3211
1460-2199
1460-2199
DOI:10.1093/cercor/bhy339