Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 27 October 2000:
Vol. 290. no. 5492, pp. 744 - 750
DOI: 10.1126/science.290.5492.744
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Review

Untangling Dendrites with Quantitative Models

Idan Segev, Michael London

Our understanding of the function of dendrites has been greatly enriched by an inspiring dialogue between theory and experiments. Rather than functionally ignoring dendrites, representing neurons as single summing points, we have realized that dendrites are electrically and chemically distributed nonlinear units and that this has important consequences for interpreting experimental data and for the role of neurons in information processing. Here, we examine the route to unraveling some of the enigmas of dendrites and highlight the main insights that have been gained. Future directions are discussed that will enable theory and models to keep shedding light on dendrites, where the most fundamental input-output adaptive processes take place.

Department of Neurobiology and Interdisciplinary Center for Neural Computation, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel.
E-mail: idan{at}lobster.ls.huji.ac.il (I.S.); mikilon{at}lobster.ls.huji.ac.il (M.L.)

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Coincidence detection of convergent perforant path and mossy fibre inputs by CA3 interneurons.
E. Calixto, E. J. Galvan, J. P. Card, and G. Barrionuevo (2008)
J. Physiol. 586, 2695-2712
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dendrite-to-Soma Input/Output Function of Continuous Time-Varying Signals in Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Neurons.
E. P. Cook, J. A. Guest, Y. Liang, N. Y. Masse, and C. M. Colbert (2007)
J Neurophysiol 98, 2943-2955
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Reversed somatodendritic Ih gradient in a class of rat hippocampal neurons with pyramidal morphology.
J. B. Bullis, T. D. Jones, and N. P. Poolos (2007)
J. Physiol. 579, 431-443
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Functional Significance of Passive and Active Dendritic Properties in the Synaptic Integration by an Identified Nonspiking Interneuron of Crayfish.
A. Takashima, R. Hikosaka, and M. Takahata (2006)
J Neurophysiol 96, 3157-3169
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Spike timing-dependent plasticity: from synapse to perception..
Y. Dan and M.-M. Poo (2006)
Physiol Rev 86, 1033-1048
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Coincidence detection of synaptic inputs is facilitated at the distal dendrites after long-term potentiation induction..
N.-l. Xu, C.-q. Ye, M.-m. Poo, and X.-h. Zhang (2006)
J. Neurosci. 26, 3002-3009
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Branch-Specific Ca2+ Influx from Na+-Dependent Dendritic Spikes in Olfactory Granule Cells.
T. Zelles, J. D. Boyd, A. B. Hardy, and K. R. Delaney (2006)
J. Neurosci. 26, 30-40
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dynamic Spatiotemporal Synaptic Integration in Cortical Neurons: Neuronal Gain, Revisited.
R. Azouz (2005)
J Neurophysiol 94, 2785-2796
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Progress in Functional Neuroanatomy: Precise Automatic Geometric Reconstruction of Neuronal Morphology From Confocal Image Stacks.
J. F. Evers, S. Schmitt, M. Sibila, and C. Duch (2005)
J Neurophysiol 93, 2331-2342
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Tone-Evoked Excitatory and Inhibitory Synaptic Conductances of Primary Auditory Cortex Neurons.
A. Y. Y. Tan, L. I. Zhang, M. M. Merzenich, and C. E. Schreiner (2004)
J Neurophysiol 92, 630-643
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Sodium Channels and Dendritic Spike Initiation at Excitatory Synapses in Globus Pallidus Neurons.
J. E. Hanson, Y. Smith, and D. Jaeger (2004)
J. Neurosci. 24, 329-340
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Comparison of the Morphological and Electrotonic Properties of Renshaw Cells, Ia Inhibitory Interneurons, and Motoneurons in the Cat.
T. V. Bui, S. Cushing, D. Dewey, R. E. Fyffe, and P. K. Rose (2003)
J Neurophysiol 90, 2900-2918
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Active dendrites and spike propagation in multicompartment models of oriens-lacunosum/moleculare hippocampal interneurons.
F Saraga, C P Wu, L Zhang, and F K Skinner (2003)
J. Physiol. 552, 673-689
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
An approach to electrical modeling of single and multiple cells.
T. R. Gowrishankar and J. C. Weaver (2003)
PNAS 100, 3203-3208
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Decoding Neuronal Population Activity in Rat Somatosensory Cortex: Role of Columnar Organization.
S. Panzeri, F. Petroni, R. S. Petersen, and M. E. Diamond (2003)
Cereb Cortex 13, 45-52
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dendro-Dendritic Interactions between Motion-Sensitive Large-Field Neurons in the Fly.
J. Haag and A. Borst (2002)
J. Neurosci. 22, 3227-3233
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dependence of EPSP Efficacy on Synapse Location in Neocortical Pyramidal Neurons.
S. R. Williams and G. J. Stuart (2002)
Science 295, 1907-1910
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Aluminum-Induced Dendritic Pathology Revisited: Cytochemical and Electron Microscopic Studies of Rabbit Cortical Pyramidal Neurons.
M. S. Forbes, O. Ghribi, M. M. Herman, and J. Savory (2002)
Ann. Clin. Lab. Sci. 32, 75-86
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Dendrites.
Y.-N. Jan and L. Y. Jan (2001)
Genes & Dev. 15, 2627-2641
   Full Text »    PDF »
Compartmentalized and Binary Behavior of Terminal Dendrites in Hippocampal Pyramidal Neurons.
D.-S. Wei, Y.-A. Mei, A. Bagal, J. P. Y. Kao, S. M. Thompson, and C.-M. Tang (2001)
Science 293, 2272-2275
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)