Models of Initiation and Propagation of Dendritic Spikes in Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Neurons

In computational models of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons with active dendrites, distal synaptic inputs trigger dendritic spikes, but in many cases these spikes do not propagate reliably to the soma to produce output action potentials in the axon. The computational models show, moreover, that the probability of axonal action potential initiation increases dramatically if the distal dendritic inputs are accompanied by small amounts of more proximal synaptic input. In this case, the propagation of the dendritic spikes appears to be gated by the more proximal inputs. The mechanisms for this phenomenon, as well as experimental results designed to test the predictions of the computational models, will be discussed.

William L. Kath is a professor of Engineering Sciences and Applied Mathematics at Northwestern University, and a co-director of the Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems. He is also affiliated with the Department of Neurobiology and Physiology and with the Center for Photonic Computing and Communication at Northwestern University. His main research interests include computational neuroscience and modelling of fibre-optic communications.