biostudies-literatureLudl AAGeneralitat de CatalunyaHorizon 2020 Framework ProgrammeMinisterio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Gobierno de España77https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC7488194biostudies-literatureUnknown14Scaffolds and patterned substrates are among the most successful strategies to dictate the connectivity between neurons in culture. Here, we used numerical simulations to investigate the capacity of physical obstacles placed on a flat substrate to shape structural connectivity, and in turn collective dynamics and effective connectivity, in biologically-realistic neuronal networks. We considered μ-sized obstacles placed in mm-sized networks. Three main obstacle shapes were explored, namely crosses, circles and triangles of isosceles profile. They occupied either a small area fraction of the substrate or populated it entirely in a periodic manner. From the point of view of structure, all obstacles promoted short length-scale connections, shifted the in- and out-degree distributions toward loFrontiers in computational neuroscienceImpact of Physical Obstacles on the Structural and Effective Connectivity of <i>in silico</i> Neuronal Circuits.PMC74881947131402017-SGR-1061FIS2016-78507-C2-2-PFIS2017-90782-REDTSoriano JLudl AAfalseImpact of Physical Obstacles on the Structural and Effective Connectivity of <i>in silico</i> Neuronal Circuits.Scaffolds and patterned substrates are among the most successful strategies to dictate the connectivity between neurons in culture. Here, we used numerical simulations to investigate the capacity of physical obstacles placed on a flat substrate to shape structural connectivity, and in turn collective dynamics and effective connectivity, in biologically-realistic neuronal networks. We considered μ-sized obstacles placed in mm-sized networks. Three main obstacle shapes were explored, namely crosses, circles and triangles of isosceles profile. They occupied either a small area fraction of the substrate or populated it entirely in a periodic manner. From the point of view of structure, all obstacles promoted short length-scale connections, shifted the in- and out-degree distributions toward lo2020-01-01T00:00:00Z20202025-04-20T00:52:47.826Z2020-09-30T07:03:32ZS-EPMC74881943298271010.3389/fncom.2020.00077