Prediction of connections between neurons.
© par hijun
Statistical connectivity provides a sufficient foundation for specific functional connectivity in neocortical neural microcircuits.
"It is well-established that synapse formation involves highly selective chemospecific mechanisms, but how neuron arbors are positioned before synapse formation remains unclear. Using 3D reconstructions of 298 neocortical cells of different types (including nest basket, small basket, large basket, bitufted, pyramidal, and Martinotti cells), the group of Prof. Henry Markram (Neural Microcircuitry Laboratory) constructed a structural model of a cortical microcircuit, in which cells of different types were independently and randomly placed. There finding suggests that random alignment of axonal and dendritic arbors provides a sufficient foundation for specific functional connectivity to emerge in local neural microcircuits."