5 research outputs found
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Chunkflow: hybrid cloud processing of large 3D images by convolutional nets
Automated microscopes with both high resolution and large field of view are generating terascale and even petascale 3D images. A local cluster might not have enough computational resources to process them in reasonable time, but public cloud platforms can provide computational resources on demand. Convolutional networks have become the state-of-the-art approach for 3D biological image analysis1,2 , and cloud processing by 3D convolutional nets has been used for processing independent small image stacks3–5 . However, cloud computing tools to perform distributed processing of terascale or petascale 3D images by convolutional nets are lacking. Here, we report chunkflow, a framework for distributing computational tasks over both cloud and local computational resources, including both GPUs and CPUs with multiple deep-learning framework back ends, to maximize efficiency, increase flexibility and reduce cost
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Cyclic structure with cellular precision in a vertebrate sensorimotor neural circuit
Neuronal wiring diagrams reconstructed by electron microscopy1,2,3,4,5 pose new questions about the organization of nervous systems following the time-honored tradition of cross-species comparisons.6,7 The C. elegans connectome has been conceptualized as a sensorimotor circuit that is approximately feedforward,8,9,10,11 starting from sensory neurons proceeding to interneurons and ending with motor neurons. Overrepresentation of a 3-cell motif often known as the "feedforward loop" has provided further evidence for feedforwardness.10,12 Here, we contrast with another sensorimotor wiring diagram that was recently reconstructed from a larval zebrafish brainstem.13 We show that the 3-cycle, another 3-cell motif, is highly overrepresented in the oculomotor module of this wiring diagram. This is a first for any neuronal wiring diagram reconstructed by electron microscopy, whether invertebrate12,14 or mammalian.15,16,17 The 3-cycle of cells is "aligned" with a 3-cycle of neuronal groups in a stochastic block model (SBM)18 of the oculomotor module. However, the cellular cycles exhibit more specificity than can be explained by the group cycles-recurrence to the same neuron is surprisingly common. Cyclic structure could be relevant for theories of oculomotor function that depend on recurrent connectivity. The cyclic structure coexists with the classic vestibulo-ocular reflex arc for horizontal eye movements,19 and could be relevant for recurrent network models of temporal integration by the oculomotor system.20,21
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Digital Museum of Retinal Ganglion Cells with Dense Anatomy and Physiology
When 3D electron microscopy and calcium imaging are used to investigate the structure and function of neural circuits, the resulting datasets pose new challenges of visualization and interpretation. Here, we present a new kind of digital resource that encompasses almost 400 ganglion cells from a single patch of mouse retina. An online "museum" provides a 3D interactive view of each cell's anatomy, as well as graphs of its visual responses. The resource reveals two aspects of the retina's inner plexiform layer: an arbor segregation principle governing structure along the light axis and a density conservation principle governing structure in the tangential plane. Structure is related to visual function; ganglion cells with arbors near the layer of ganglion cell somas are more sustained in their visual responses on average. Our methods are potentially applicable to dense maps of neuronal anatomy and physiology in other parts of the nervous system