Synapses on Spineless Dendrites

Abstract

In the case of dendrites which carry no spines and therefore receive their afferent synapses directly, such as the dendrites of the various stellate cells, counts of synapses necessarily involve the electron microscope. Reconstruction of dendrites on serial sections is very time-consuming and is limited to short segments of dendrites, with the consequent hazards involved in small sample size, as we have already noted. The task would be relatively simple if individual dendrites could be marked by some stain so as to identify the synapses belonging to that dendrite, and if the sections were thick enough to show long enough segments of dendrites.