Difference between revisions of "Autapse"

From Eyewire
Jump to: navigation, search
(Adds image of double self-touch)
(Adds paywalled marker)
Line 8: Line 8:
 
==History==
 
==History==
  
Autapses have been known since at least 1972.<ref>Van der Loos, H; Glaser EM (1972). "Autapses in neocortex cerebri: synapses between a pyramidal cell's axon and its own dendrites", ''Brain Research'' 48:355-60. doi: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(72)90189-8 10.1016/0006-8993(72)90189-8]. Paywalled.</ref>
+
Autapses have been known since at least 1972.<ref>Van der Loos, H; Glaser EM (1972). "Autapses in neocortex cerebri: synapses between a pyramidal cell's axon and its own dendrites", ''Brain Research'' 48:355-60. doi: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0006-8993(72)90189-8 10.1016/0006-8993(72)90189-8]. {{paywalled}}</ref>
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
 
<references/>
 
<references/>

Revision as of 18:29, 30 March 2012

A dendrite self-touching seen in the 3D view of EyeWire
File:Double-selftouch.png
A dendrite with two self-touches seen in the 3D view of EyeWire

An autapse is a synapse that a neuron forms with itself. They have been hypothesized to serve as short-term analog memory storage.[1]

Strictly speaking, an autapse is a synapse from the axon of a neuron to one of its dendrites, that is, from its output to its input. However, structures have been found via Eyewire formed as a looped branch in a dendrite that may be either autapses or self-touches (i.e. not a synapse at all).[2] In EyeWire's 2D view, these generally appear to be branches that move away from the main branch, approach it again, but only touch again along a cell membrane.

History

Autapses have been known since at least 1972.[3]

References

  1. Seung, HS; Lee, DD; Reis, BY; Tank, DW (2000). "The Autapse: A Simple Illustration of Short-Term Analog Memory Storage by Tuned Synaptic Feedback", J. Computational Neuroscience 9:171-185. doi: 10.1023/A:1008971908649.
  2. Seung, Sebastian (March 20, 2012) Loops, Eyewire Forums
  3. Van der Loos, H; Glaser EM (1972). "Autapses in neocortex cerebri: synapses between a pyramidal cell's axon and its own dendrites", Brain Research 48:355-60. doi: 10.1016/0006-8993(72)90189-8. Paywalled.