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Dr. Hermann Cuntz Independent Group Leader Contact info: Institute of Clinical Neuroanatomy Goethe University Theodor-Stern-Kai 7 D-60590 Frankfurt/Main, Germany Tel. +49-(0)-69-6301-87127 Email hermann.neuro (at) gmail.com |
 visit our dendrites workshop official CNS*2011 workshop in Stockholm, July 27  |
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and find our work in the Wellcome Collection  |
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The big picture How are neurons connected? What are the fundamental principles of wiring in the brain, i.e. what is the connection code? What are the implications for computation and function? Just as the gene map carries the rules for the structural design of any given organism, it is thought that the map of all circuits in the brain will help unravel its design principles and reveal much about its functioning. A realm of novel techniques has recently emerged allowing the dissection of neural circuits at various levels to ultimately obtain the so-called connectome describing all connections in a given brain area. However, as opposed to the genetic system in which the underlying code is well known since the pioneering work on the structure of DNA, the corresponding connection code remains a mystery. More than a hundred years ago, however, Ramón y Cajal has suggested to interpret construction plans of the brain by observing the morphology of individual neurons. We are now responding to the challenge laid down by Cajal by developing computational tools and mathematical laws to describe this link between structure and function. Morphology is key to understanding both circuits and computation since it reflects the constraints given by both. |
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Techniques We developed a computational method which is now called morphological modelling. Assuming optimal wiring in neural circuits we adapted techniques from graph theory to derive morphologies in a reverse engineering approach (Cuntz et al., 2007a; 2008; 2010; 2011; in prep.). The resulting synthetic morphologies, apart from withstanding rigorous physiological and anatomical analysis, pass a “Turing test” in which colleagues cannot differentiate the synthetic cells among a set of real cells. See here for more details about the individual projects. |
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The TREES toolbox We are committed to sharing our code and data in the spirit of the new field of Neuroinformatics. We developed and maintain the TREES toolbox, a Matlab toolbox to generate, edit, visualize and analyze neuronal structure. |
| Media outreach | |
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Our work was chosen to be the subject of the prototype
Science Byte
documentary program available at PBS funded by
the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to popularise work published in PLoS.
The film was directed by Michael Schwarz and produced by
kikim media. → Enjoy! |
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Or read a German popular science article written by Christiane Gelitz for
Gehirn & Geist
from the Spektrum der Wissenschaft publishing company.
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This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 License
last updated on 1 July 2011, Hermann Cuntz