Abstract
Many methods have been developed to quantify neuronal morphology: measurement of neurite length, neurite number, etc. However, none of these approaches provides a comprehensive view of the complexity of neuronal morphology. In this work we have analyzed the evaluation of fractal dimension (D) as a tool to represent and quantify changes in complexity of the dendritic arbor, in in vitro cultures grown under Iow-density conditions. Neurons grown in isolation developed a bipolar morphology corresponding to a fractal dimension close to the unit. The analysis showed that neuronal complexity increased when cells were incubated with a depolarizing potassium concentration and there was a correlation with an increase in fractal dimension (D5 mM KCI = 1.08 ± 0.01, D25 mM KCI = 1.25 ± 0.01). We conclude that fractal dimension is a suitable parameter to quantify changes in neuronal morphological complexity.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 341-345 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Methods |
Volume | 24 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2001 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Cerebellar granule cells
- Fractal dimension
- Neural activity
- Neuronal complexity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Molecular Biology