Mouse Somatosensory Cortex Neuropil 3D Reconstructions from Aging Study

A 3D electron microscopy analysis of layer 1 neuropil ultrastructure and synaptic connectivity in aged versus adult mice. The dataset contains dense reconstructions of axons, dendrites, and synapses from serial EM images, showing compensatory changes in synapse size and excitatory/inhibitory balance during aging. It was created by Corrado Cali and published in 2020.

Use Cases

• Analyze changes in synaptic size and docked vesicle numbers between aged and adult mouse neurons.
• Compare the volume of dendritic spines and axonal boutons to assess structural preservation during aging.
• Quantify the excitatory/inhibitory synapse balance shift, particularly for synapses on dendritic spines.
• Model the relationship between total synaptic surface area per unit axon length and neuropil volume across age groups.

Strengths

• Data is derived from dense 3D reconstructions of neuropil ultrastructure using serial electron microscopy.
• Analysis focuses on a well-defined brain region: layer 1 of the somatosensory cortex.
• Explicitly compares two distinct biological states: aged mice versus adult mice.
• Published under the permissive CC0 1.0 public domain license.

Limitations

• The specific sample size (number of reconstructed volumes or neurons) is not provided.
• Data format and accessibility details (e.g., file types, download size) are unknown.
• Limited to a single brain region (somatosensory cortex layer 1) and model organism (Mus musculus).

Provenance

Source

Dryad digital repository.

Collection Method

Dense reconstructions from serial electron microscopy images of mouse brain tissue.

Freshness

Last updated in June 2020.