Combinatorial quantification of distinct neural projections from retrograde tracing.

ABSTRACT: Comprehensive quantification of neuronal architectures underlying anatomical brain connectivity remains challenging. We introduce a method to identify distinct axonal projection patterns from a source to a set of target regions and the count of neurons with each pattern. A source region projecting to n targets could have 2ⁿ-1 theoretically possible projection types, although only a subset of these types typically exists. By injecting uniquely labeled retrograde tracers in k target regions (k < n), one can experimentally count the cells expressing different color combinations in the source region. The neuronal counts for different color combinations from n-choose-k experiments provide constraints for a model that is robustly solvable using evolutionary algorithms. Here, we demons

SUBMITTER: Venkadesh S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10638408 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature