Abstract
The first patch-clamp recordings from the dendrites of human neocortical neurons have recently been reported by Beaulieu-Laroche et al. and Gidon et al. These studies have shown that human dendrites are electrically excitable, exhibiting backpropagating action potentials and fast dendritic calcium spikes. This new frontier highlights the potential for interspecies differences in the biophysics of dendritic computation.
Highlights
Dendrites represent most of the surface area of neurons and exhibit many properties that may form such function-limiting con straints
A single action potential can trigger a cascade of local network activity in human cortical tissue that lasts longer than in rodent cortex [5], and human layer 2/3 neurons appear to have a lower specific membrane capacitance compared with rodent neurons [6]
BeaulieuLaroche and colleagues [7] reported that the dendrites of human cortical layer 5 pyramidal neurons have a similar reper toire of dendritic excitability to rat layer 5 neurons, but are less excitable, and that the additional length of human dendrites alters the input–output properties of the somatic and dendritic compartments
Summary
Dendrites represent most of the surface area of neurons and exhibit many properties that may form such function-limiting con straints. A single action potential can trigger a cascade of local network activity in human cortical tissue that lasts longer than in rodent cortex [5], and human layer 2/3 neurons appear to have a lower specific membrane capacitance compared with rodent neurons [6].
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