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Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit
Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, LONDON, WC1N 3AR, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7679 1176, Fax +44 (0) 20 7679 1173, admin@gatsby.ucl.ac.uk, www.gatsby.ucl.ac.uk

 

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WORKSHOP ON:
CENTRAL PROBLEMS IN SINGLE CELL COMPUTATION


16-18 September 2002
By invitation only

Venue
B10 Seminar Room, Alexandra House, 17 Queen Square, London, WC1N 3AR


Role of synapse location in the control of neuronal output
Greg Stuart, University of Freiburg, Germany
How effective are synaptic inputs made at different dendritic locations?Passive cable theory suggests that synaptic inputs located at distal dendritic locations will have less influence on neuronal output. But is this the case? Recent technical advances have allowed direct observation of the amplitude and time course of synaptic inputs generated at defined dendritic sites. In neocortical, but not hippocampal, pyramidal neurons the somatic amplitude of EPSPs is dependent on the dendritic site of generation, whereas in both cell types somatic EPSP time course is relatively independent of synapse location. These observations suggest that under certain conditions central neurons operate primarily as temporal integrators, irrespective of the site of synaptic input, whereas at other times they compartmentalize synaptic integration, allowing distal inputs to be integrated in a manner consistent with coincidence detection.