Rapid Golgi Analysis Method for Efficient and Unbiased Classification of Dendritic Spines
Open accessAbstract
Dendritic spines are the primary recipients of excitatory synaptic input in the brain. Spine morphology provides important information on the functional state of ongoing synaptic transmission. One of the most commonly used methods to visualize spines is Golgi-Cox staining, which is appealing both due to ease of sample preparation and wide applicability to multiple species including humans. However, the classification of spines is a time-consuming and often expensive task that yields widely varying results between individuals. Here, we present a novel approach to this analysis technique that uses the unique geometry of different spine shapes to categorize spines on a purely objective basis. This rapid Golgi spine analysis method successfully conveyed the maturational shift in spine types during development in the mouse primary visual cortex. This approach, built upon freely available software, can be utilized by researchers studying a broad range of synaptic connectivity phenotypes in both development and disease.
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The six-group spine morphological classification used is previously standardized by Risher et al. (2014).
“spines in CA1 and CA3 were classified into six groups according to the morphological classification previously standardized by Risher et al. (2014)”
From The Serine/Threonine Kinase <scp>NDR2</scp> Regulates Integrin Signaling, Synapse Formation, and Synaptic Plasticity in the Hippocampus (2025) · cites this paper as Risher et al. (2014)
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References 16 · Cited by 325
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- Authors
- Risher, W. C., Ustunkaya, T., Singh Alvarado, J., & Eroglu, C.
- Affiliations
- Duke University (US)
- Duke Medical Center (US)
- Venue
- PLoS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2014-09-10
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- e107591
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC4160288
- OpenAlex
- W1989961182
- Cited by
- 325
- References
- 16
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 47 · 2024: 27 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 44 · 2021: 42 · 2020: 44 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 22 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 3.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- National Institutes of Health (2T32NS51156-6)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (DA031833, R01DA031833)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM007184)
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (2T32NS 51156-6, T32NS051156, F32NS083283)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Cell Image Analysis Techniques
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- dendritic spines, Golgi-Cox staining, spine maturation, primary visual cortex, mouse development, synaptic connectivity, excitatory synapses
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Pattern Recognition, Automated, Software, Time Factors, Visual Cortex, Silver Staining, Pyramidal Cells, Dendritic Spines, Mice
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