Topic: Neuronal cultures

Neuronal cultures and human stem-cell-derived organoids are fundamental building blocks of neuroscientific research and future personalized medicine. However, in-vitro networks show considerably more synchronous bursting activity than networks in-vivo [1]. One leading theory proposes that under a lack of external input, maladapted network’s plasticity leads to a pathological collective activity pattern: long periods of quiescence are interspersed with bursts of strong, synchronous activity [2, 3]. In theoretical simulations, weak external input can reduce this bursting behavior. However, expe

Neuronal cultures in vitro are a versatile system for studying the basic properties of individual neurons and neuronal networks that recently gained additional attention as a precision medicine tool. Mature neuronal cultures exhibit synchronized collective dynamics called network bursting. This activity can provide insights into the network's cellular composition, network topology, or any underlying pathological processes. An effective method to investigate network bursting dynamics is to map it onto a simplified dynamical model, and then examine the model's dynamic regimes and the characteri

Spontaneous activity of neuron populations is often characterized by unique network events, ranging from sharp-wave ripples to slow propagating waves. One of the prominent examples of such network events is population bursting (Fig. 1a), robustly emerging in networks of primary neurons in vitro [1]. Population bursting is believed to depend on the genetic, single neuron, and network features. Typically, the events are characterized via several summary statistics and compared between observations [2]. Although changes in the burst morphology are frequently observed, they are much harder to quan

Activity-dependent structural plasticity plays a pivotal role in the self-organization of neuronal networks. Emerging activity continuously feeds back into the growth process, regulating connectivity and activity homeostatically towards an optimal functional dynamic range. Transferred into cell culture, neurons follow the same homeostatic principles. They migrate and regrow neurites to establish synaptic connectivity and spontaneous network activity. Despite of homeostatic regulation, the resulting network structure and activity dynamics exhibit considerable variability across and within studi

Neuronal cultures are an excellent experimental tool to study the collective behaviour of neuronal ensembles in a controlled environment. However, neurons cultured on flat surfaces present limitations in terms of their functionality, as they exhibit a synchronous dynamic behaviour that differs from the much richer repertoire of brain activity [1].In order to address this limitation, we studied the capacity to break the isotropy in connectivity and enrich dynamics by modulating the spatial arrangement of neurons in the substrate they grow. Specifically, we cultured neurons on polydimethylsiloxa

Synaptic homeostatic plasticity maintains firing of neuronal networks within physiological range, by adjusting synaptic strength via molecular and morphological changes in the synapse. The perineuronal extracellular matrix (ECM), which is mainly composed of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans such as brevican, stabilizes synapses and reduces their plasticity. Previous data indicated that brevican is cleaved during homeostatic plasticity, which may facilitate synapse remodeling. The proteases ADAMTS4, -5 and the closely related ADAMTS8 and -15 may share brevican as substrate for ECM regulation. T