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Cited by 35Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchNeural dynamics and brain functionAdvanced Memory and Neural Computing

Cortical dendritic spine heads are not electrically isolated by the spine neck from membrane potential signals in parent dendrites

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Popovic, M. A., Gao, X., Carnevale, N. T., Zecevic, D.·2014·Cerebral Cortex
DOI 10.1093/cercor/bhs320PMC PMC3888368
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Abstract

The evidence for an important hypothesis that cortical spine morphology might participate in modifying synaptic efficacy that underlies plasticity and possibly learning and memory mechanisms is inconclusive. Both theory and experiments suggest that the transfer of excitatory postsynaptic potential signals from spines to parent dendrites depends on the spine neck morphology and resistance. Furthermore, modeling of signal transfer in the opposite direction predicts that synapses on spine heads are not electrically isolated from voltages in the parent dendrite. In sharp contrast to this theoretical prediction, one of a very few measurements of electrical signals from spines reported that slow hyperpolarizing membrane potential changes are attenuated considerably by the spine neck as they spread from dendrites to synapses on spine heads. This result challenges our understanding of the electrical behavior of spines at a fundamental level. To re-examine the specific question of the transfer of dendritic signals to synapses of spines, we took advantage of a high-sensitivity Vm-imaging technique and carried out optical measurements of electrical signals from 4 groups of spines with different neck length and simultaneously from parent dendrites. The results show that spine neck does not filter membrane potential signals as they spread from the dendrites into the spine heads.

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Crossref · 10.1093/cercor/bhs320

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  • Voltage signals from the dendrite propagate without attenuation into spines, but synaptic potentials generated inside the spine head are filtered when they travel to the dendrite.

    “This means that voltage signals from the dendrite propagate without attenuation into the spines (Holthoff et al., 2010; Carter et al., 2012; Popovic et al., 2014), but synaptic potentials generated inside the spine head are filtered when they travel to the dendrite (Araya et al., 2006, 2014; Harnett et al., 2012).”

    From Barriers in the brain: resolving dendritic spine morphology and compartmentalization (2014) · cites this paper as Popovic et al., 2014

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Authors
Popovic, M. A., Gao, X., Carnevale, N. T., & Zecevic, D.
ORCID
Popovic, M. A.
Venue
Cerebral Cortex
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2012-10-10
Volume
24
Issue
2
Pages
385-395
ISSN
  • 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2199
DOI
10.1093/cercor/bhs320
PMC
PMC3888368
OpenAlex
W2131175607
Cited by
35
References
49
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 4 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
FWCI
1.71
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (R01DC009977)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS11613, R01NS068407, NS068407, R01NS011613)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Electrical and Electronic Engineering › Advanced Memory and Neural Computing
Keywords
dendritic spines, membrane potential, galvanic isolation, signal transfer, dendritic morphology, synaptic plasticity, excitatory postsynaptic potentials, voltage imaging
MeSH terms
Action Potentials, Animals, Cerebral Cortex, Computer Simulation, Dendrites, Membrane Potentials, Models, Neurological, Somatosensory Cortex, Synapses, Time Factors, Pyramidal Cells, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Dendritic Spines, Mice, Voltage-Sensitive Dye Imaging, Optical Imaging, In Vitro Techniques

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