Difference between revisions of "Autapse"

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[[Image:Autapse.png|thumb|400px|A dendrite self-touching seen in the 3D view of EyeWire]]
 
[[Image:Autapse.png|thumb|400px|A dendrite self-touching 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.<ref>Seung, HS; Lee, DD; Reis, BY; Tank, DW (2000). [http://wotan.liu.edu/docis/lib/goti/rclis/dbl/jocone/(2000)9%253A2%253C171%253ATAASIO%253E/genomics.princeton.edu%252Ftank%252Fpdf-publications%252FJCompNeuro_9_2000.pdf "The Autapse: A Simple Illustration of Short-Term Analog Memory Storage by Tuned Synaptic Feedback"], ''J. Computational Neuroscience'' 9:171-185. doi: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008971908649 10.1023/A:1008971908649].</ref>
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An '''autapse''' is a [[Synapse|synapse]] that a neuron forms with itself. They have been hypothesized to serve as short-term analog memory storage.<ref>Seung, HS; Lee, DD; Reis, BY; Tank, DW (2000). [http://wotan.liu.edu/docis/lib/goti/rclis/dbl/jocone/(2000)9%253A2%253C171%253ATAASIO%253E/genomics.princeton.edu%252Ftank%252Fpdf-publications%252FJCompNeuro_9_2000.pdf "The Autapse: A Simple Illustration of Short-Term Analog Memory Storage by Tuned Synaptic Feedback"], ''J. Computational Neuroscience'' 9:171-185. doi: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1023/A:1008971908649 10.1023/A:1008971908649].</ref>
  
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).<ref>Seung, Sebastian (March 20, 2012) [http://forum.eyewire.org/discussion/comment/48#Comment_48 Loops], Eyewire Forums</ref> 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.  
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Strictly speaking, an autapse is a synapse from the [[Axon|axon]] of a neuron to one of its [[Dendrite|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).<ref>Seung, Sebastian (March 20, 2012) [http://forum.eyewire.org/discussion/comment/48#Comment_48 Loops], Eyewire Forums</ref> 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==
 
==History==

Revision as of 16:26, 21 July 2014

A dendrite self-touching 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.