"Neuronal dendrites are electrically excitable: they can generate regenerative events such as dendritic spikes in response to sufficiently strong synaptic input. Although such events have been observed in many neuronal types, it is not well understood how active dendrites contribute to the tuning of neuronal output in vivo. Here we show that dendritic spikes increase the selectivity of neuronal responses to the orientation of a visual stimulus (orientation tuning). ...".
Model Type: Neuron or other electrically excitable cell
Model Concept(s): Active Dendrites; Orientation selectivity; Dendritic Action Potentials; Action Potentials; Sensory processing; Vision
Simulation Environment: NEURON (web link to model)
Implementer(s): Branco, Tiago
References:
Smith SL, Smith IT, Branco T, Häusser M. (2013). Dendritic spikes enhance stimulus selectivity in cortical neurons in vivo. Nature. 503 [PubMed]