Are Human Dendrites Different?

Mehmet Fişek; Michael Häusser

doi:10.1016/j.tics.2020.03.002

Are Human Dendrites Different?

Trends Cogn Sci. 2020 Jun;24(6):411-412. doi: 10.1016/j.tics.2020.03.002. Epub 2020 Mar 30.

Authors

Mehmet Fişek¹, Michael Häusser²

Affiliations

¹ Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK; Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
² Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK; Department of Neuroscience, Physiology, and Pharmacology, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK. Electronic address: m.hausser@ucl.ac.uk.

Abstract

The first patch-clamp recordings from the dendrites of human neocortical neurons have recently been reported by Beaulieu-Laroche et al. and Gidon et al. These studies have shown that human dendrites are electrically excitable, exhibiting backpropagating action potentials and fast dendritic calcium spikes. This new frontier highlights the potential for interspecies differences in the biophysics of dendritic computation.

Keywords: cortex; dendrite; human; neural computation; patch clamp; pyramidal cell; rodent; synaptic integration.

Publication types

Comment

MeSH terms

Action Potentials
Dendrites*
Humans
Neurons
Patch-Clamp Techniques
Pyramidal Cells*