BookHermann Cuntz, Michiel W. Remme, Benjamin Torben-Nielsen, editors.
Summary: Neuronal dendritic trees are complex structures that endow the cell with powerful computing capabilities and allow for high neural interconnectivity. Studying the function of dendritic structures has a long tradition in theoretical neuroscience, starting with the pioneering work by Wilfrid Rall in the 1950s. Recent advances in experimental techniques allow us to study dendrites with a new perspective and in greater detail. The goal of this volume is to provide a rsum of the state-of-the-art in experimental, computational, and mathematical investigations into the functions of dendrites in a variety of neural systems. Thebook firstlooks at morphological properties of dendrites and summarizes the approaches to measure dendrite morphology quantitatively and to actually generate synthetic dendrite morphologies in computer models. This morphological characterization ranges from the study of fractal principles to describe dendrite topologies, to the consequences of optimization principles for dendrite shape. Individual approaches are collected to study the aspects of dendrite shape that relate directly to underlying circuit constraints and computation. The second main theme focuses on how dendrites contribute to the computations that neurons perform. What role do dendritic morphology andthe distributions of synapses and membrane properties over the dendritic tree have in determining the output of a neuron in response to its input? A wide range of studies is brought together, with topics ranging from general to system-specific phenomenasome having a strong experimental component, and others being fully theoretical. The studies come from many different neural systems and animal species ranging from invertebrates to mammals. With this broad focus, an overview is given of the diversity of mechanisms that dendrites can employ to shape neural computations.
Contents:
Part 1: Dendritic morphology
The cell biology of dendrite differentiation
Archetypes and outliers in the neuromorphological space
Neuronal arborizations, spatial innervation and emergent network connectivity
Shaping of neurons by environmental interaction
Modelling dendrite shape from wiring principles
A statistical theory of dendritic morphology
Reverse engineering the 3D structure and sensory-evoked signal flow of rat vibrissal cortex
Optimized dendritic morphologies for noisy inputs
Part 2: Dendritic computation
Noisy dendrites: models of dendritic integration in vivo
Distributed parallel processing in retinal amacrine cells
Dendritic computation of direction in retinal neurons
Rapid integration across tonotopy by individual auditory brainstem octopus cells
Computing temporal sequence with dendrites
Modelling the cellular mechanisms of fly optic flow processing
Biophysical mechanisms of computation in a looming sensitive neuron
Biophysics of synaptic inhibition in dendrites
Role of nonuniform dendrite properties on input processing by GABAergic interneurons
Subthreshold resonance and membrane potential oscillations in a neuron with non-uniform active dendritic properties
A trade-off between dendritic democracy and independence in neurons with intrinsic subthreshold membrane potential oscillations
Dendrites enhance both single neuron and network computation
Dendritic size and topology influence burst firing in pyramidal cells
Stochastic ion channel gating and probabilistic computation in dendritic neurons
Cellular and dendritic memory allocation
Synaptic plasticity and pattern recognition in cerebellar Purkinje cells
Response of gap junction coupled dendrites: a sum-over-trips approach
Automated parameter constraining of single neuron models
Morphological reduction of dendritic neurons
Index.