Speaker
Description
Dendritic integration is fundamental for information processing in the brain. Each dendrite combines different synaptic inputs in a nonlinear fashion, selectively producing events only in response to specific spatiotemporal patterns of synaptic activation. As a consequence, the generation of action potentials is partly controlled by the spatial arrangement of synaptic spines across the dendritic tree. We investigated this connection using realistic biophysical models of CA1 pyramidal neurons that incorporate experimental data from ex-vivo mouse brain slices detailing not only how spines are positioned, but also which of two pathways (BLA versus CA3) they receive from. When we simulated how somatic membrane potentials are modulated by different spatial configurations of synaptic inputs, and furthermore by different wiring schemes for the two functional pathways explored in the laboratory, we observed idiosyncratic modulations of somatic activity that refer back to specific synaptic arrangements. These results demonstrate the feasibility of recovering axonal signatures of fine-scale dendritic positioning and functional wiring, therefore emphasizing the significance of these factors for shaping neuronal information processing.
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