Towards a supervised classification of neocortical interneuron morphologies

BACKGROUND: The challenge of classifying cortical interneurons is yet to be solved. Data-driven classification into established morphological types may provide insight and practical value. RESULTS: We trained models using 217 high-quality morphologies of rat somatosensory neocortex interneurons reconstructed by a single laboratory and pre-classified into eight types. We quantified 103 axonal and dendritic morphometrics, including novel ones that capture features such as arbor orientation, extent in layer one, and dendritic polarity. We trained a one-versus-rest classifier for each type, combining well-known supervised classification algorithms with feature selection and over- and under-sampling. We accurately classified the nest basket, Martinotti, and basket cell types with the Martinotti model outperforming 39 out of 42 leading neuroscientists. We had moderate accuracy for the double bouquet, small and large basket types, and limited accuracy for the chandelier and bitufted types. We characterized the types with interpretable models or with up to ten morphometrics. CONCLUSION: Except for large basket, 50 high-quality reconstructions sufficed to learn an accurate model of a type. Improving these models may require quantifying complex arborization patterns and finding correlates of bouton-related features. Our study brings attention to practical aspects important for neuron classification and is readily reproducible, with all code and data available online. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12859-018-2470-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.