In search of a periodic table of the neurons: Axonal‐dendritic circuitry as the organizing principle
Abstract
No one knows yet how to organize, in a simple yet predictive form, the knowledge concerning the anatomical, biophysical, and molecular properties of neurons that are accumulating in thousands of publications every year. The situation is not dissimilar to the state of Chemistry prior to Mendeleev's tabulation of the elements. We propose that the patterns of presence or absence of axons and dendrites within known anatomical parcels may serve as the key principle to define neuron types. Just as the positions of the elements in the periodic table indicate their potential to combine into molecules, axonal and dendritic distributions provide the blueprint for network connectivity. Furthermore, among the features commonly employed to describe neurons, morphology is considerably robust to experimental conditions. At the same time, this core classification scheme is suitable for aggregating biochemical, physiological, and synaptic information.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2016
- Source ID
- 10.1002/bies.201600067
Entities
People
- Diek W. Wheeler
- Giorgio A. Ascoli
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- George Mason University
- National Institutes of Health
- National Science Foundation
- Office of Naval Research