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From Dendrites to Networks: Optically Probing the Living Brain Slice and Using Principal Component Analysis to Characterize Neuronal Morphology

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Neuroanatomical Tract-Tracing 3

Abstract

Recently, advances in optical imaging of the living brain slice preparation have permitted neuronal circuitry to be examined at multiple levels, ranging from individual synaptic contacts on dendrites to whole populations of neurons in a network. In this chapter, we describe three techniques that, together, enable a powerful dissection of neuronal circuits across multiple space scales. We describe methods for (1) combining whole-cell recording with two-photon calcium imaging and electron microscopic reconstruction to examine the functions of individual synapses and dendrites during synaptic stimulation, (2) imaging hundreds of neurons in the brain slice simultaneously to examine the spatiotemporal dynamics of activity in living neuronal networks, and (3) performing an unbiased, quantitative analysis of neuronal morphology that is increasingly necessary in light of the multiparametric structural diversity of distinct neuronal subclasses.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. McGovern Institute for Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

    Jesse H. Goldberg

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027

    Jason MacLean & Rochelle Urban

  3. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027

    Rafael Yuste

  4. Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State University of New York, Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY

    Farid Hamzei-Sichani

  5. Department of Comparative Physiology, University of Szeged, Kozepfasor 52, Szeged, H-6726, Hungary

    Gabor Tamas

Authors
  1. Jesse H. Goldberg
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  2. Farid Hamzei-Sichani
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  3. Jason MacLean
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  4. Gabor Tamas
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  5. Rochelle Urban
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  6. Rafael Yuste
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, Newark, NJ, USA

    Laszlo Zaborszky

  2. Department of Anatomy, Vrije University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Floris G. Wouterlood

  3. Neurosciences Division, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), University of Navarra, Pamplona, Spain

    José Luis Lanciego

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Goldberg, J.H., Hamzei-Sichani, F., MacLean, J., Tamas, G., Urban, R., Yuste, R. (2006). From Dendrites to Networks: Optically Probing the Living Brain Slice and Using Principal Component Analysis to Characterize Neuronal Morphology. In: Zaborszky, L., Wouterlood, F.G., Lanciego, J.L. (eds) Neuroanatomical Tract-Tracing 3. Springer, Boston, MA . https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-28942-9_15

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