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Updated: Dec 29, 2025

Author Spotlight: Optimizing Dendritic Spine Analysis for Balanced Manual and Automated Assessment in the Hippocampus CA1 Apical Dendrites
Published on: September 27, 2024
SpineJ: A software tool for quantitative analysis of nanoscale spine morphology
Florian Levet1, Jan Tønnesen2, U Valentin Nägerl2
1Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Interdisciplinary Institute for Neuroscience, CNRS, UMR 5297, Bordeaux, France; Bordeaux Imaging Center, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Bordeaux Imaging Center, CNRS UMS 3420, Bordeaux, France; Bordeaux Imaging Center, INSERM US04, Bordeaux, France.
Abstract:
Super-resolution microscopy provides diffraction-unlimited optical access to the intricate morphology of neurons in living brain tissue, resolving their finest structural details, which are critical for neuronal function. However, as existing image analysis software tools have been developed for diffraction-limited images, they are generally not well suited for quantifying nanoscale structures like dendritic spines. We present SpineJ, a semi-automatic ImageJ plugin that is specifically designed for this purpose. SpineJ offers an intuitive and user-friendly graphical user interface, facilitating fast, accurate, and unbiased analysis of spine morphology.

