title: Passive spatial and temporal integration of excitatory synaptic inputs in cerebellar Purkinje cells of young rats.
abstract: We have investigated the integration of excitatory (parallel fiber) synaptic inputs in cerebellar Purkinje cells of young rats in vitro and in a compartmental model of such a cell, based on 3D morphological reconstruction. Excitatory synaptic inputs at two independent dendritic sites were activated by electrical stimulation with various delays between the two stimuli. Population postsynaptic potentials summed linearly under current clamp condition when the two dendritic input sites were spatially separated (>200 microm) but sublinearly, in a delay dependent manner, when the input sites were close (<50 microm) to each other. Population postsynaptic currents measured under voltage clamp conditions summed linearly independent of the spatial and temporal separation of inputs. Summation of inputs in a passive compartmental model of a Purkinje cell was similar to that of Purkinje cells in vitro. We show that sublinear summation of neighboring inputs is independent of inhibitory mechanisms and suggest that sublinearity is mainly due to a locally reduced driving force.
authors.affiliation: Neurobiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biology III, Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Schänzlestrasse 1, 79104 Freiburg, Germany. heck@biologie.uni-freiburg.de
authors.forename: Detlef
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Heck
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borst
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Antkowiak
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D011689:Purkinje Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*