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Non-synaptic dendritic spines in neocortex.

J I Arellano1, A Espinosa, A Fairén

  • 1Departamento de Neuroanatomia y Biologia Celular, Instituto Cajal (CSIC), Ave. Dr. Arce, 37, 28002 Madrid, Spain.

Neuroscience
|January 24, 2007
PubMed
Summary
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Most dendritic spines in the adult mouse neocortex form synapses. A small percentage of nonsynaptic spines, resembling filopodia, may contribute to new synaptic connections.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cell Biology
  • Synaptic Plasticity

Background:

  • A prevalent assumption in neuroscience is that every dendritic spine in the cerebral cortex forms a synaptic connection.
  • The precise proportion of dendritic spines that are truly synaptic has not been systematically quantified.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the validity of the assumption that all cortical dendritic spines are synaptic.
  • To determine the percentage of dendritic spines that lack synaptic connections in the adult mouse neocortex.

Main Methods:

  • Complete ultrastructural reconstructions were performed on a large population (n=144) of identified dendritic spines.
  • Analysis focused on the adult mouse neocortical tissue.

Main Results:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Only a small fraction, 3.6%, of the reconstructed dendritic spines were found to clearly lack synapses.
  • Nonsynaptic spines were characterized by their small size and lack of a distinct head, resembling dendritic filopodia.

Conclusions:

  • The assumption that every dendritic spine forms a synapse is largely accurate for the adult mouse neocortex.
  • The identified nonsynaptic spines may serve as a source for generating new synaptic connections within the adult brain, suggesting a role in neuroplasticity.