ReviewJournal of neuroscience methods2017
Valid statistical approaches for analyzing sholl data: Mixed effects versus simple linear models.
Review in Journal of neuroscience methods, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 53 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
53 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- The neurocognitive gains of diagnostic reasoning training using simulated interactive veterinary cases.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- Perineuronal Net and Inhibitory Synapse Remodeling on Striatal Fast-Spiking Interneurons by Chronic Alcohol Exposure.Biological psychiatry · 2026Article
- Neuroligin-2 is ubiquitinated by Nedd4l to control developmental astrocyte morphogenesis.The Journal of cell biology · 2026Article
- Cerebellar microRNA-206 tunes Purkinje neuron firing dynamics to control sensorimotor gating.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Retinal waves shape starburst amacrine cell dendrite development through a direction-selective dendritic computation.Cell reports · 2026Article
- USP11 drives stress-induced synaptic structural deficits and depression-like behaviors through GSK3β/mTOR signaling.Neurobiology of stress · 2026Article
- Attenuation of social preference and alteration of cortical neurons following adolescent cerebellar nuclei perturbation.Molecular psychiatry · 2026Article
- Mild Neonatal Hypoxia Targets Synaptic Maturation, Disrupts Adult Hippocampal Learning and Memory, and Is Associated with CK2-Mediated Loss of Synaptic Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel KCNN2 Activity.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026Article
- Stage-specific epigenetic priming amplifies gene activation during lineage commitment.Science advances · 2026Article
- Time-restricted feeding in adult mice improves mood-related behaviors in a sex-dependent manner.Behavioural brain research · 2026Article
- Neurodevelopmental outcomes relevant to autism in juvenile mice exposed to PCB 11 in the maternal diet throughout gestation and lactation.Frontiers in toxicology · 2026Article
- Condensates of synaptic vesicles and synapsin-1 mediate actin sequestering and polymerization.The EMBO journal · 2025Article
- PCB 37 (3,4, 4'-trichlorobiphenyl) increased apoptosis and modulated neuronal morphogenesis in primary rat cortical neuron-glia cocultures in a concentration-, sex-, age-, and CREB-dependent manner.Neurotoxicology · 2025Article
- Condensates of synaptic vesicles and synapsin are molecular beacons for actin sequestering and polymerization.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Nonlinear mixed-effects models to analyze actin dynamics in dendritic spines.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A mouse model of early sporadic tau pathology induces neurogenic plasticity in the hippocampus.PloS one · 2025Article
- Dendritic morphological development of traumatic brain injury-induced new neurons in the dentate gyrus is important for post-injury cognitive recovery and is regulated by Notch1.Experimental neurology · 2024Article
- Neuregulin1 Nuclear Signaling Influences Adult Neurogenesis and Regulates a Schizophrenia Susceptibility Gene Network within the Mouse Dentate Gyrus.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Article
- Loss of the polarity protein Par3 promotes dendritic spine neoteny and enhances learning and memory.iScience · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe Sholl technique is widely used to quantify dendritic morphology. Data from such studies, which typically sample multiple neurons per animal, are often analyzed using simple linear models. However, simple linear models fail to account for intra-class correlation that occurs with clustered data, which can lead to faulty inferences. NEW
methodMixed effects models account for intra-class correlation that occurs with clustered data; thus, these models more accurately estimate the standard deviation of the parameter estimate, which produces more accurate p-values. While mixed models are not new, their use in neuroscience has lagged behind their use in other disciplines.
resultsA review of the published literature illustrates common mistakes in analyses of Sholl data. Analysis of Sholl data collected from Golgi-stained pyramidal neurons in the hippocampus of male and female mice using both simple linear and mixed effects models demonstrates that the p-values and standard deviations obtained using the simple linear models are biased downwards and lead to erroneous rejection of the null hypothesis in some analyses. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING
methodsThe mixed effects approach more accurately models the true variability in the data set, which leads to correct inference.
conclusionsMixed effects models avoid faulty inference in Sholl analysis of data sampled from multiple neurons per animal by accounting for intra-class correlation. Given the widespread practice in neuroscience of obtaining multiple measurements per subject, there is a critical need to apply mixed effects models more widely.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.