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Dendritic Dynamic Clamp – A Tool to Study Single Neuron Computation

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Dynamic-Clamp

Part of the book series: Springer Series in Computational Neuroscience ((NEUROSCI,volume 1))

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Abstract

Central neurons receive the majority of synaptic input at dendritic sites. Classical models of neuronal function suggest that dendrites simply funnel synaptic input to the site of action potential initiation in the axon. Direct dendritic whole-cell recording techniques have however demonstrated that dendrites are electrically excitable. Recently, the dynamic clamp has been used to simulate synaptic activity at determined dendritic sites in neurons, to explore the constraints of the dendrosomatic spread of synaptic potentials and to examine the properties of local dendritic synaptic integration. Here, I describe the implementation of the dendritic dynamic-clamp technique and review the results of recent experiments using the dendritic dynamic clamp to explore the properties of synaptic integration in the dendrites of cortical pyramidal neurons.

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Acknowledgments

I am very grateful to Greg Stuart for introducing me to the field of dendritic physiology. The author’s work is supported by the Medical Research Council (UK).

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  1. Neurobiology Division, Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK

    Stephen R. Williams

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  1. Stephen R. Williams
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Correspondence to Stephen R. Williams .

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    Williams, S.R. (2009). Dendritic Dynamic Clamp – A Tool to Study Single Neuron Computation. In: Bal, T., Destexhe, A. (eds) Dynamic-Clamp. Springer Series in Computational Neuroscience, vol 1. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89279-5_2

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