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Why not connectomics?

Nature Methods volume 10, pages494–500(2013)Cite this article

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Opinions diverge on whether mapping the synaptic connectivity of the brain is a good idea. Here we argue that albeit their limitations, such maps will reveal essential characteristics of neural circuits that would otherwise be inaccessible.

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Figure 1: Potential results from two approaches to studying circuit connectivity.
Figure 2: Two types of wiring diagrams.

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Acknowledgements

Our work was supported by a Conte Center grant (US National Institute of Mental Health), the US National Institutes of Health, the Gatsby Charitable Trust and Center for Brain Science Harvard University. We thank D. Rodrigues for use of his rendering of his Twitter network and J. De Carlos for Cajal's drawing of the retina.

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Affiliations

  1. Joshua L. Morgan and Jeff W. Lichtman are in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and The Center for Brain Science, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

    Joshua L Morgan & Jeff W Lichtman

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  1. Joshua L Morgan
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  2. Jeff W Lichtman
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Correspondence to Joshua L Morgan or Jeff W Lichtman.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Morgan, J., Lichtman, J. Why not connectomics?. Nat Methods 10, 494–500 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmeth.2480

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