Dendrites

…extremes; battery interfaces, dendrites and durability; and fuel-cell catalysts, gas handling and closed-loop energy storage. Precirculated research papers support extended discussion among academic and industrial researchers and postgraduate students. The meeting is at Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J

…synapses is coordinated within dendrites of hippocampal CA1 neurons in brain slices. Using single-cell electrophysiology, two-photon glutamate uncaging at multiple spines, advanced microscopy and novel biosensors, the project examines how calcium release from internal stores contributes to dendritic calcium signals, how PKA and PKC activity interact with them, whether these interactions explain two modes of spine growth, where retrograd

…proteins are produced locally in dendrites or in the soma. The model’s predictions agree with experimental findings.

Dendrites perform non-linear processing of synaptic inputs, and drive active processes such as plateau potentials which are critical to computation and plasticity. Therefore, the ability to image voltage across an entire dendritic tree would represent a major advance in systems neuroscience. Recent advances in genetically encoded voltage indicators (GEVIs) have brought this possibility closer to reality. However, due to the fundamental tradeoff between imaging speed and volume, it has been impossible thus far to image an entire dendritic tree using volumetric imaging at high speeds. To get aro

…pre-established protein pools inside dendrites, to maintain the dynamic proteome requirements for appropriate synaptic activity. While certain proteins have local mRNA that allows for on-demand synthesis at the synapse, the vast majority do not. This poses an important question: how can these proteins manage their copy number without boosting the synthesis rate locally? This study looks into the hypothesis that the amount of the protein pool in dendrites corresponds with the presence or lack of dendritic mRNA for local

…stable pools in the distal regions of dendrites, while larger dendritic calibers and axonal shaft kept a considerable extent of organelle motility up and b

Mitochondria play a crucial role in cellular energy production. Dysfunctional mitochondria have been causally linked to a myriad of age-related disorders, including neurodegenerative diseases. We recently discovered Zinc finger CCCH-type containing 10 (Zc3h10) as a novel mitochondrial regulator in adipocytes and muscle cells. Since neuronal maturation is the phase during which neurons acquire their final characteristics in terms of morphology, electrical activity, and metabolism, and given the high expression level of Zc3h10 in various brain areas, we decided to investigate the role of this mi

Perivascular lesions with accumulation of proteins with abnormal secondary structures are associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia. Along with upregulation of the genes (Gfap, Aqp4) involved in the pathogenesis, a number of long noncoding RNAs are differentially expressed in the lesion; however, the roles and functions of such noncoding RNAs are unknown. This study was aimed to explore novel functions of long noncoding RNAs (lincRNAs) potentially involved in the suppression of the perivascular lesions. RNA expression profiles in the cerebral cortex of mice (6 weeks old) with

…In neurons, mRNA transport to dendrites and axons and local translation are crucial for development, repair, synaptic function and memory formation.3’ untranslated regions (3’UTRs) are known for regulation of RNA localization, stability and translation. Past research identified many of the molecular mechanisms and players involved, but we still lack a systematic understanding of how the regulatory information is encoded i

…We identify the dendrites of specific third order neurons as the site of luminance gain control. The circuitry further involves wide field neurons, matching computational predictions that local spatial p

…The conversation examines how dendrites contribute to learning and memory, the relationship between biological detail and useful abstraction, and the potential of dendritic mechanisms to improve artificial intelligence.

Physiological experiments have highlighted how the dendrites of biological neurons can nonlinearly process distributed synaptic inputs. However, it is unclear how qualitative aspects of a dendritic tree, such as its branched morphology, its repetition of presynaptic inputs, voltage-gated ion channels, electrical properties and complex synapses, determine neural computation beyond this apparent nonlinearity. While it has been speculated that the dendritic tree of a neuron can be seen as a multi-layer neural network and it has been shown that such an architecture could be computationally strong,

…machines, including ribosomes, within dendrites and axons. Local translation of mRNAs is important for the function and plasticity of synapses. Using advanced sequencing and imaging techniques we have updated our understanding of the local transcriptome and identified the local translatome- identifying over 800 transcripts for which local translation is the dominant source of protein. In addition, we have explored the unique mechanisms neur

Dendrites play a central role in neuronal computation, and many complex mechanisms shape their structure, function, and connectivity. Dendrites can undergo plastic changes during development and learning, as well as during neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disease. We will discuss how the molecular and electrophysiological properties of dendrites enable them to perform complex computations important for sensory-motor processing and higher cognitive function, and how these can go awry.

Dendrites are thin processes that extend from the cell body of neurons, the main computing units of the brain. The role of dendrites in complex brain functions has been investigated for several decades, yet their direct involvement in key behaviors such as for example sensory perception has only recently been established. In my presentation I will discuss how computational modelling has helped us illuminate dendritic function. I will present the main findings of a number of projects in lab dealing with dendritic nonlinearities in excitatory and inhibitory and their consequences on neuronal tun

…hippocampal 1st order pyramidal cell dendrites are profoundly degraded in experimental epilepsy. This phenomenon was reversed by selectively blocking Nav1.3 sodium channels. In-vivo two-photon imagin

…machines and processes within dendrites and axons. Using expansion microscopy together with metabolic labeling we have discovered that both postsynaptic spines and presynaptic terminals exhibit rapid translation, which exhibits differential sensitivity to different neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. In addition, we have explored the unique mechanisms neurons use to meet protein demands at synapses, identifying the transcriptome and transla

Synaptic inputs on cortical dendrites are organized with remarkable subcellular precision at the micron level. This organization emerges during early postnatal development through patterned spontaneous activity and manifests both locally where synapses with similar functional properties are clustered, and globally along the axis from dendrite to soma. Recent experiments reveal species-specific differences in the local and global synaptic organization in mouse, ferret and macaque visual cortex. I will present a computational framework that implements functional and structural plasticity from sp

Synaptic plasticity is believed to be a key physiological mechanism for learning. It is well-established that it depends on pre and postsynaptic activity. However, models that rely solely on pre and postsynaptic activity for synaptic changes have, to date, not been able to account for learning complex tasks that demand hierarchical networks. Here, we show that if synaptic plasticity is regulated by high-frequency bursts of spikes, then neurons higher in the hierarchy can coordinate the plasticity of lower-level connections. Using simulations and mathematical analyses, we demonstrate that, when