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Effects of location and extent of spine clustering on synaptic integration in striatal medium spiny neurons—a computational study

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Abstract

The nucleus accumbens (NAc) is known widely for its role in the reward circuit, which is dysregulated in a number of psychological disorders. Recent evidence also suggests the contribution of this structure in spatial and gustatory memories. Because of its role in different types of memories, similar to the hippocampus, we assumed the formation of spine clusters, which are engrams of memory, to be present on dendrites of medium spiny neurons (MSNs). We found that the activation of clustered inputs resulted in sublinear summation when clusters were present on the same branch and also when inputs were distributed on different branches. The size, as well as the location of clusters, was found to affect the summation. With an increase in cluster size and distance from soma, the summation was increasingly sublinear. When the temporal integration window was measured for clustered spines, it was found to be narrower as compared to that for a single spine. Also, distally located clusters resulted in a wider temporal window, as compared to proximal clusters. Our results suggest that depending on the location of clusters, the modes of integration will differ in MSNs possessing clustered spines.

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Funding

We would like to thank the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, for their support for this project work (project no. BT/PR12973/MED/122/47/2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biosciences & Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400076, India

    Mrunal Rane & Rohit Manchanda

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, D.J. Sanghvi College of Engineering, Vile Parle, Mumbai, 400092, India

    Mrunal Rane

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  1. Mrunal Rane
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Correspondence to Mrunal Rane.

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Rane, M., Manchanda, R. Effects of location and extent of spine clustering on synaptic integration in striatal medium spiny neurons—a computational study. Med Biol Eng Comput 56, 1173–1187 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-017-1760-5

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