It is possible for a dendrite to pass through another dendrite?
To visualize this better I temporarily also colored in the ‘passing’ dendrite.
I did only get 20 points for this task, so perhaps I did something wrong?
I’ve also posted the question on Biology.SE. Questions about neurology should be on topic there. It could also be a nice way of getting extra exposure for EyeWire.
Here is an example with a bigger ‘hole’.
Actually I just noticed I already got part of the answer in a previous question I asked.
"you’ll see a circle within a circle it is the case of one cell being wrapped around/going through another."
If that happens I wonder what happens with the signals that pass through it.
Dendrites sometimes make loops. And, yes, sometimes another dendrite can pass through the loop, like thread passes through the eye of a needle. Please refer a previous discussion:
http://forum.eyewire.org/discussion/comment/44#Comment_44But the first image you attached seems to show two dendrites from different neurons touch each other; two pairs of rounded ends are in contact. On the third image, on the other hand, only a pair of rounded ends are touching each other (2 o'clock direction of the loop) and the surface other than the location is smooth and continuous (which means that this is actually a loop).
@whathecode I didn’t know there was a Biology StackExchange. Do you have any other suggestions about how to promote EyeWire on that site?