Combining Optical Imaging and Computational Modeling to Analyze Structure and Function of Living Neurons

We are investigating the computational properties of principal neurons in the mammalian brain. To manage the small size and intricate structure of neuronal dendrites, we employ advanced optical imaging techniques in combination with automatic image reconstruction and computational modeling to study their complex spatio-temporal pattern of activity

I. Introduction

THE mammalian brain contains some 10¹⁰ individual neurons that are highly inter-connected, each receiving input from somewhere between 10² and 10⁵ other neurons. It is currently well-accepted that the information processing capability of the brain is not only based on the large number of neurons and their high connectivity, but also on the performance of individual neurons. Particularly, our view of the neuronal dendrite has changed from that of electric cables, passively conducting postsynaptic signals to the cell body, to that of active neuronal structures, capable of complex spatio-temporal electrochemical dynamics. Therefore, there exists a keen interest in understanding the information processing capability of a single neuron.