Neuromorphological phenotyping in transgenic mice: A multiscale fractal analysis

Abstract

3Dmorphological data have been used to quantitatively characterize the morphological phenotype of pyramidal neurons in transgenic mice. We calculated the multiscale fractal dimension (MFD) of reconstructed neuronal cells. Changes in the complexity of neuronal morphology due to permanent activation of p21Ras in the primary somatosensory cortex of transgenic mice correlate with changes in the MFDof dendrites of pyramidal neurons. Transgenic neurons seem slightly less complex (i.e., have lower peak fractal dimension) if compared with the wild type. On the other hand, the enhanced p21Ras activity in transgenic mice may lead to greater variety in the cell morphological phenotype.