NMDA receptor-mediated dendritic spikes and coincident signal amplification

Authors
Schiller, J Schiller, Y
Citation
J. Schiller et Y. Schiller, NMDA receptor-mediated dendritic spikes and coincident signal amplification, CUR OP NEUR, 11(3), 2001, pp. 343-348
Citations number
55
Categorie Soggetti
Neurosciences & Behavoir
Journal title
CURRENT OPINION IN NEUROBIOLOGY
ISSN journal
09594388 → ACNP
Volume
11
Issue
3
Year of publication
2001
Pages
343 - 348
Database
ISI
SICI code
0959-4388(200106)11:3<343:NRDSAC>2.0.ZU;2-Y
Abstract
Dendrites of cortical neurons possess active conductances, which contribute to the nonlinear processing of synaptic information. Recently it has been shown that basal dendrites can generate highly localized spikes mediated by NMDA receptor channels. These spikes may serve as a powerful mechanism to detect and amplify synchronously activated spatially clustered excitatory s ynaptic inputs in individual dendritic segments, and may enable parallel pr ocessing in several integrative dendritic subunits.