Cell
Volume 179, Issue 1, 19 September 2019, Pages 268-281.e13
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Reconstruction of 1,000 Projection Neurons Reveals New Cell Types and Organization of Long-Range Connectivity in the Mouse Brain

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.07.042Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Efficient pipeline for brain-wide imaging and reconstruction of individual neurons

  • Searchable database containing more than 1,000 fully reconstructed neurons

  • In some brain areas projection neurons fall into discrete classes

  • Other projection neurons form a continuum of projection types

Summary

Neuronal cell types are the nodes of neural circuits that determine the flow of information within the brain. Neuronal morphology, especially the shape of the axonal arbor, provides an essential descriptor of cell type and reveals how individual neurons route their output across the brain. Despite the importance of morphology, few projection neurons in the mouse brain have been reconstructed in their entirety. Here we present a robust and efficient platform for imaging and reconstructing complete neuronal morphologies, including axonal arbors that span substantial portions of the brain. We used this platform to reconstruct more than 1,000 projection neurons in the motor cortex, thalamus, subiculum, and hypothalamus. Together, the reconstructed neurons constitute more than 85 meters of axonal length and are available in a searchable online database. Axonal shapes revealed previously unknown subtypes of projection neurons and suggest organizational principles of long-range connectivity.

Keywords

single-cell reconstruction
neuronal connectivity
whole brain
projection neurons
long-range projections
axonal morphology
neuronal cell types
automated reconstruction
morphology database

Cited by (0)

5

Present address: Amazon Web Services, Seattle, WA 98101, USA

6

Present address: Environmental Systems Research Institute, Redlands, CA 92373, USA

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