Chapter 7 Inside the neuron: cytoskeleton, dendrites, and synapses (an overview)

Abstract

The chapter discusses the evolving views on several of Cajal's favored topics, including the neuronal cytoskeleton and the effects of glial factors on its plasticity, the dendritic spines, the interactions among processes of special types of nerve cells, and the make-up of interneuronal contacts. Discovery of the dendritic spine is one of the most conspicuous examples of Cajal's superior power of observation. The chapter discusses the proximal dendrites of mature Purkinje cells, relinquish their contacts with the climbing fibers in the absence of activity, and become covered with new spine that establishes new synapses mainly with parallel fibers. Neuronal diversity will continue to engender many challenges for anatomical, biochemical, and electrophysiological studies. Although neurons share fundamental machinery that regulates neurotransmitter secretion and postsynaptic receptor organization, it is likely that this machinery is differentially regulated—and it may even vary in some of its elements—in types and subsets of neurons.