title: Inhibitory control of linear and supralinear dendritic excitation in CA1 pyramidal neurons.
abstract: The transformation of dendritic excitatory synaptic inputs to axonal action potential output is the fundamental computation performed by all principal neurons. We show that in the hippocampus this transformation is potently controlled by recurrent inhibitory microcircuits. However, excitatory input on highly excitable dendritic branches could resist inhibitory control by generating strong dendritic spikes and trigger precisely timed action potential output. Furthermore, we show that inhibition-sensitive branches can be transformed into inhibition-resistant, strongly spiking branches by intrinsic plasticity of branch excitability. In addition, we demonstrate that the inhibitory control of spatially defined dendritic excitation is strongly regulated by network activity patterns. Our findings suggest that dendritic spikes may serve to transform correlated branch input into reliable and temporally precise output even in the presence of inhibition.
authors.affiliation: NRW Research Group "Dendritic Integration in the CNS", Department of Epileptology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, 53105 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: Heinz
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Beck
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coulter
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Remy
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D056547:CA1 Region, Hippocampal / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D003712:Dendrites / Q000502:physiology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D009924:Organ Culture Techniques; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar