An optimum principle predicts the distribution of axon diameters in normal white matter.

ABSTRACT: Many important functional properties affecting nerve conduction are influenced by axon diameter. It is also known that the axon diameter distribution (ADD) in normal nerve fascicles is heterogeneous and skewed. A recent attempt to model and explain the parametric form of these distributions was based on biomechanical principles. Here we explore a neurophysiologically-based hypothesis that the observed ADD can be obtained by optimizing the information flow through a fascicle subject to reasonable anatomical and metabolic constraints. Specifically, we use a variational framework to find an optimal distribution based on the fascicle's channel capacity and informative upper bound (IUB), subject to constraints of fixed available fascicle cross-sectional area and fixed number of axons, to derive

SUBMITTER: Pajevic S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3557303 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature