Search research articles

ABOUT JoVE

Overview Leadership Blog JoVE Help Center

AUTHORS

Publishing Process Editorial Board Scope & Policies Peer Review FAQ Submit

LIBRARIANS

Testimonials Subscriptions Access Resources Library Advisory Board FAQ

RESEARCH

JoVE Journal Methods Collections JoVE Encyclopedia of Experiments Archive

EDUCATION

JoVE Core JoVE Business JoVE Science Education JoVE Lab Manual Faculty Resource Center Faculty Site

Terms & Conditions of Use

Related Concept Videos

The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes

The Tree of Life - Bacteria, Archaea, Eukaryotes

The “tree of life” describes the evolution of life and the evolutionary relationships between organisms. The root of the tree is the common ancestor to all life on Earth. All other species radiate from this point, much like the branches of a tree. The numerous tips of these branches on the tree of life represent every living, or extant, species. Extinct species, which are species that no longer exist, can be found towards the center of the tree. Currently, these organisms, both...

Diffusion

Diffusion

Diffusion is the passive movement of substances down their concentration gradients—requiring no expenditure of cellular energy. Substances, such as molecules or ions, diffuse from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration in the cytosol or across membranes. Eventually, the concentration will even out, with the substance moving randomly but causing no net change in concentration. Such a state is called dynamic equilibrium, which is essential for maintaining overall...

Diffusion

Diffusion

Diffusion is a type of passive transport. In passive transport, a substance tends to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the concentration is equal across the space. For example, take the diffusion of substances through the air. When someone opens a perfume bottle in a room filled with people, the perfume is at its highest concentration in the bottle and is at its lowest at the edges of the room. The perfume vapor will diffuse, or spread away, from the...

Survival Tree

Survival Tree

Survival trees are a non-parametric method used in survival analysis to model the relationship between a set of covariates and the time until an event of interest occurs, often referred to as the "time-to-event" or "survival time." This method is particularly useful when dealing with censored data, where the event has not occurred for some individuals by the end of the study period, or when the exact time of the event is unknown.
Building a Survival Tree
Constructing a...

Meristems and Plant Growth

Meristems and Plant Growth

Plants grow throughout their lives; this is called indeterminate growth, and it distinguishes plants from most animals. Although certain parts of plants stop growing (e.g., leaves and flowers), others grow continuously—like roots and stems.

The Bronchial Tree

The Bronchial Tree

The human bronchi and bronchial tree play a crucial role in the respiratory system, facilitating the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Let's delve into the intricate structure and functions of these respiratory components.
The trachea, commonly known as the windpipe, is a tube that connects the larynx (voice box) to the bronchi. At a point called the carina, it bifurcates into two primary bronchi. The right primary bronchus is wider, shorter, and more vertical than the left primary...

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by

Same author

Rise and subsequent fall in neuro-behavioral coupling during learning a skilled reaching task is revealed by generative AI.

Communications biology·2026

Same author

Intermediate Stage of Epileptogenesis Is Not Affected by Disrupting Memory Consolidation Processes.

International journal of molecular sciences·2025

Same author

Entropy of Neuronal Spike Patterns.

Entropy (Basel, Switzerland)·2024

Same author

Psilocybin reduces functional correlation and the encoding of spatial information by neurons in mouse retrosplenial cortex.

The European journal of neuroscience·2024

Same author

Associating sensory cues with incoming seizures: developing an animal model of auras.

Scientific reports·2024

Same author

A bio-inspired reinforcement learning model that accounts for fast adaptation after punishment.

Neurobiology of learning and memory·2024

Search research articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Transforming, Genome Editing and Phenotyping the Nitrogen-fixing Tropical Cannabaceae Tree Parasponia andersonii

Transforming, Genome Editing and Phenotyping the Nitrogen-fixing Tropical Cannabaceae Tree Parasponia andersonii

Published on: August 18, 2019

Spatial embedding of neuronal trees modeled by diffusive growth.

¹Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University, 197 University Ave., Newark, NJ 07102, USA. Luczak@rutgers.edu

Journal of Neuroscience Methods

|May 13, 2006

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Simple environmental factors, not intrinsic plans, shape complex dendritic trees. A diffusion-limited aggregation model explains neuronal diversity by adjusting growth area, pruning time, and particle concentration.

More Related Videos

Immunohistochemical Visualization of Hippocampal Neuron Activity After Spatial Learning in a Mouse Model of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Immunohistochemical Visualization of Hippocampal Neuron Activity After Spatial Learning in a Mouse Model of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Published on: May 12, 2015

Axon Stretch Growth: The Mechanotransduction of Neuronal Growth

Axon Stretch Growth: The Mechanotransduction of Neuronal Growth

Published on: August 10, 2011

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Jan 25, 2026

Transforming, Genome Editing and Phenotyping the Nitrogen-fixing Tropical Cannabaceae Tree Parasponia andersonii

Transforming, Genome Editing and Phenotyping the Nitrogen-fixing Tropical Cannabaceae Tree Parasponia andersonii

Published on: August 18, 2019

Immunohistochemical Visualization of Hippocampal Neuron Activity After Spatial Learning in a Mouse Model of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Immunohistochemical Visualization of Hippocampal Neuron Activity After Spatial Learning in a Mouse Model of Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Published on: May 12, 2015

Axon Stretch Growth: The Mechanotransduction of Neuronal Growth

Axon Stretch Growth: The Mechanotransduction of Neuronal Growth

Published on: August 10, 2011

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Biology
Developmental Biology

Background:

The geometric diversity of dendritic trees is crucial for neuronal function.
The relative contributions of intrinsic genetic programming versus extrinsic environmental cues in shaping dendritic morphology are not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of intrinsic and extrinsic factors in determining dendritic tree shapes.
To develop a computational model that can reproduce diverse neuronal morphologies.

Main Methods:

A computational model based on the diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) process was developed.
The model simulates dendritic growth by varying parameters such as growth area, pruning time, and neurotrophic particle concentration.

Main Results:

The DLA model successfully reproduced various neuronal shapes, including granule cells, Purkinje cells, and pyramidal cell dendrites, by altering only environmental parameters.
The model demonstrated that neuronal competition influences dendritic tree architecture.
Complex dendritic structures can arise from simple growth rules and environmental factors without requiring precise intrinsic geometric guidance.

Conclusions:

Extrinsic environmental factors and basic diffusive growth rules are sufficient to explain the diverse spatial embedding of dendritic trees in the cortex.
The model provides a parsimonious explanation for neuronal morphology, highlighting the power of simple physical processes in biological development.