Understanding a neuron’s function requires a full assessment of its inputs and outputs, which can be challenging for neuronal types with intermingled inputs and outputs. Morgan and Lichtman reconstructed a mouse thalamic local interneuron they called LIN1 from electron microscopy data and mapped its connectivity. They identified 899 synaptic inputs from and 623 synaptic outputs to different cell types, implicating LIN1 in many types of interaction ‘motif’. Each interneuron in this class may therefore perform all of the functions ascribed to this class.
References
Original article
Morgan, J. L. & Lichtman, J. W. An individual interneuron participates in many kinds of inhibition and innervates much of the mouse visual thalamus. Neuron https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2020.02.001 (2020)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bray, N. A close-up of connectivity. Nat Rev Neurosci 21, 245 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0298-y
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41583-020-0298-y
