Of mice and men: Dendritic architecture differentiates human from mouse neuronal networks
The organizational principles that distinguish the human brain from other species have been a long-standing enigma in neuroscience. Focusing on the uniquely evolved human cortical layers 2 and 3, we computationally reconstruct the cortical architecture for mice and humans. Human neurons form highly complex networks demonstrated by their increased number and simplex dimension compared to mice. This is surprising because human pyramidal cells are much sparser. The number and size of neurons cannot account for this increased network complexity, suggesting that another morphological property is a key determinant of network connectivity. The topological comparison of the dendritic structure reveals higher perisomatic density in human pyramidal cells. We quantitatively show that this neuronal structural property directly impacts network complexity, including the formation of a rich subnetwork structure. Therefore, greater dendritic complexity, a defining attribute of human pyramidal cells, may provide the human cortex with enhanced computational capacity and cognitive flexibility.
Authors
- Eline Jasmijn Mertens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5174-0306)
- Ron Stoop (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7068-7667)
- Natalí Barros-Zulaica
- Alexis Arnaudon (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9486-1458)
- Lida Kanari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9539-5070)
- Idan Segev (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7279-9630)
- Jay S. Coggan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2270-1989)
- Ying Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6442-9880)
- Javier DeFelipe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5484-0660)
- Rodrigo Perin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5756-3769)
- Huibert D. Mansvelder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1365-5340)
- Julie Meystre
- Henry Markram
- Roy Thomas Daniel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7079-9837)
- Maurizio Pezzoli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5763-3031)
- Katharina Heß (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3922-6413)
- Ruth Benavides-Piccione
- Christiaan P.J. de Kock
Institutions
- Hebrew University of Jerusalem (IL)
- Instituto Cajal (ES)
- Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois (CH)
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (CH)
- Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (NL)
- University of Lausanne (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- iScience
- Published
- 2025-06-18
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112928
- Citations
- 11
- Primary Topic
- Cell Image Analysis Techniques
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 17.97
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Gatsby Charitable Foundation
- European Commission
- École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
- Stiftung Synapsis - Alzheimer Forschung Schweiz AFS
- Board of the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology
- National Institutes of Health
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
- European Research Council
- Agencia Estatal de Investigación
- Office of Naval Research
- National Institute of Mental Health