Geometric constraints on neuronal connectivity facilitate a concise synaptic adhesive code.

ABSTRACT: The nervous system contains trillions of neurons, each forming thousands of synaptic connections. It has been suggested that this complex connectivity is determined by a synaptic "adhesive code," where connections are dictated by a variable set of cell surface proteins, combinations of which form neuronal addresses. The estimated number of neuronal addresses is orders of magnitude smaller than the number of neurons. Here, we show that the limited number of addresses dictates constraints on the possible neuronal network topologies. We show that to encode arbitrary networks, in which each neuron can potentially connect to any other neuron, the number of neuronal addresses needed scales linearly with network size. In contrast, the number of addresses needed to encode the wiring of geometric n

SUBMITTER: Itzkovitz S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2453736 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature