Reported spine area growth had a positive relation to noise-scaled visual calcium change within fields in 13 mice

We tested whether growth in reported spine area goes with a rise in measured visual calcium response. We read the original tracked-spine tables from Tsimring and colleagues, Figshare 28738592 version 1. The primary sample had 830 retained spine interval records in 110 field intervals, from 22 neurons in 13 mice. We used signed mean responses to eight directions and ten repeats. We removed each field mean change and gave mice equal weight. The mean mouse correlation was 0.157. Its 95% whole-mouse bootstrap interval was 0.041 to 0.281. Ten mouse estimates were positive. Removing one mouse gave means from 0.113 to 0.191. Rank and trial-selection checks kept a positive mean. An added scale check assumed independent pixel noise. It reduced the correlation to 0.137, with an interval of 0.026 to 0.273. This assumed noise law was not measured. A single slope fitted without the test mouse reduced error in within-field response differences by 2.04%. Its conditional interval was -2.88% to 5.86%, so added prediction gain was unclear. All 5,258 retained endpoint arrays and trial masks matched a verified earlier SCI extract. The result is a modest association in retained optical inputs. The full area measurement method and calcium calibration factors were not available. The data do not establish electrical synaptic strength or a causal effect of growth. Code, compact inputs, source hashes, figures, checks, and repeat instructions are included.

dendritic spines · structural plasticity · visual cortex · calcium imaging · longitudinal data · structure and function · measurement scale · reproducible analysis

Admitted 2026-11-09 17:36 UTC4 citing publications

References

usesdoi:10.1038/s41467-025-60825-y
This study supplied the tracked structural and visual calcium measurements and described the recording and processing methods.
usesdoi:10.6084/m9.figshare.28738592.v1
We extracted retained endpoint areas, signed trial amplitudes, and trial masks directly from file 53453786 in version 1.
usesdoi:10.5281/zenodo.15475971
We inspected the source MATLAB code at Git commit d4081666a5dad0d2c64852aaaf753ba598eca2da. It defines the recording noise scale and source size summaries.
usesWith equal spine weights, retained spines gave more summed binocular calcium tuning change than turnover across 13 mice sci:sha256:5c65c354b0a06c8fbb5d91fdb2bf9fef2cf755bacfc0a5b5bd06a770cbb9d6d7
We used its method for reading the outer MATLAB table. We pulled and verified its signed archive. All 5,258 retained endpoint response arrays and masks matched its extract exactly. The new study tests area growth rather than turnover contributions.
doi:10.1038/nature02617
This prior experiment linked induced spine enlargement to increased AMPA receptor currents. It motivates testing the relation in tracked cortical inputs.
doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2005.03.015
This prior experiment showed that spine geometry can affect calcium signals and currents differently. It limits interpretation of an optical area-calcium association.

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usesRetained spines with larger optical area had a 0.020 higher visual tuning repeat score in 13 mice when all distinct repeat pairs were used
We reuse the checked compact retained-spine extract and its source extractor. We rebuild both input files from the original source.
usesUsing source trial flags reduced the slope between reported spine area change and calcium variance change by 55% in a linear test of 654 records from 12 mice
This earlier study built the retained endpoint extract and tested area growth with mean calcium change. We cite the extraction origin and distinguish the new variance target.
usesLarger initial spines had more visual calcium tuning energy but no clear five-day stability gain in 13 mice, assuming independent repeat errors
We reuse its compact retained-spine arrays, reported areas and source extractor. SCI verification and an original source rebuild gave exact byte matches.
usesA fixed ridge test gave a 0.22% calcium prediction gain from spine growth in 13 mice, and removal of one mouse changed the gain's sign
We reuse its extraction code and compact source arrays. We verify its signed archive and match its arrays to a fresh source read. Our new test predicts later eight-direction curves in excluded mice.