Display Settings:

Format

Send to:

Choose Destination
We are sorry, but NCBI web applications do not support your browser and may not function properly. More information
    Science. 2010 Nov 26;330(6008):1198-201. doi: 10.1126/science.1193378.

    From the connectome to the synaptome: an epic love story.

    Source

    Instituto Cajal (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas) and Laboratorio de Circuitos Corticales (Centro de Tecnologí Biomédica, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid), Spain. defelipe@cajal.csic.es

    Abstract

    A major challenge in neuroscience is to decipher the structural layout of the brain. The term "connectome" has recently been proposed to refer to the highly organized connection matrix of the human brain. However, defining how information flows through such a complex system represents so difficult a task that it seems unlikely it could be achieved in the near future or, for the most pessimistic, perhaps ever. Circuit diagrams of the nervous system can be considered at different levels, although they are surely impossible to complete at the synaptic level. Nevertheless, advances in our capacity to marry macro- and microscopic data may help establish a realistic statistical model that could describe connectivity at the ultrastructural level, the "synaptome," giving us cause for optimism.

    PMID:
    21109663
    [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

      Supplemental Content

      Icon for HighWire

      Save items

      Recent activity

      Your browsing activity is empty.

      Activity recording is turned off.

      Turn recording back on

      See more...
      Write to the Help Desk