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Pyramidal cell-to-inhibitory cell spike transduction explicable by active dendritic conductances in inhibitory cell

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Abstract

In the guinea-pig hippocampal CA3 region, the synaptic connection from pyramidal neurons tostratum pyramidale inhibitory neurons is remarkable. Anatomically, the connection usually consists of a single release site on an interneuronal dendrite, sometimes 200 μm or more from the soma. Nevertheless, the connection is physiologically powerful, in that a single presynaptic action potential can evoke, with probability 0.1 to 0.6, a postsynaptic action potential with latency 2 to 6 ms. We construct a model interneuron and show that the anatomical and physiological observations can be reconciled if the interneuron dendrites are electrically excitable. Excitable dendrites could also account for depolarization-induced amplification of the pyramidal cell-interneuron EPSP in the voltage range subthreshold for spike generation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBM Research Division, T.J. Watson Research Center, 10598, Yorktown Heights, NY, USA

    Roger D. Traub

  2. Department of Neurology, Columbia University, 10032, New York, NY, USA

    Roger D. Traub

  3. Institut Pasteur, 28 Rue du Dr. Roux, 75724, Paris Cedex 15, France

    Richard Miles

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  1. Roger D. Traub
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  2. Richard Miles
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Traub, R.D., Miles, R. Pyramidal cell-to-inhibitory cell spike transduction explicable by active dendritic conductances in inhibitory cell. J Comput Neurosci 2, 291–298 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00961441

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00961441

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