Morphology and synapse topography optimize linear encoding of synapse numbers in Drosophila looming responsive descending neurons.

ABSTRACT: Synapses are often precisely organized on dendritic arbors, yet the role of synaptic topography in dendritic integration remains poorly understood. Utilizing electron microscopy (EM) connectomics we investigate synaptic topography in Drosophila melanogaster looming circuits, focusing on retinotopically tuned visual projection neurons (VPNs) that synapse onto descending neurons (DNs). Synapses of a given VPN type project to non-overlapping regions on DN dendrites. Within these spatially constrained clusters, synapses are not retinotopically organized, but instead adopt near random distributions. To investigate how this organization strategy impacts DN integration, we developed multicompartment models of DNs fitted to experimental data and using precise EM morphologies and synapse loc

SUBMITTER: Moreno-Sanchez A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11071487 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature