What resolves this contention: Ko 2011 measures connection probability after po…

What resolves this contention: Ko 2011 measures connection probability after pooling all pairs within reach of the quad-patch electrode, treating spatial opportunity implicitly. Ding 2025 explicitly controls for spatial opportunity via axon–dendrite proximities and demonstrates a residual functional gradient. The two estimates of the like-to-like effect therefore quantify different things: Ko reports raw P(conn), Ding reports an opportunity-corrected functional gradient. / Connection probability between orientation-tuned neurons was more than two-fold higher than among non-selective and/or non-responsive cells (0.27; 25/94 vs 0.10; 3/31; P = 0.050, Chi-square test). / Among pairs of neurons with at least one ADP, axon–dendrite co-travelling for longer-than-average distances was associated with higher-than-average feature similarity (Fig.).