Dendritic Integration in Single Vertebrate Neurons

描述(申请人提供)：了解生物物理性质 单个神经元以及它们如何处理信息是 了解大脑是如何工作的。这项建议的长期目标是 有助于理解中的信息处理逻辑 单个脊椎动物神经元的树突。我们将利用新的工具，基于 一种新开发的细胞内高分辨率成像技术 电压敏感染料，以研究树枝状结构的两个显著的空间方面 整合；(A)在两种功能中处理感觉信息 嗅球二尖瓣细胞室和(B)功能性 CA1区锥体神经元树突树的细分。 兴奋性与抑制性相互作用的准确描述 二尖瓣和簇状细胞不同树突室的成分 应该有助于理解信号集成的过程 嗅球。这样的理解将是迈向 对涉及感官知觉的神经机制的理解。 假设后向传播作用的突触放大 电位受限于部位的突触输入是基于计算机的 模拟和间接实验证据。这是一个重要的假设。 因为兴奋性的空间受限变化可能在功能上 细分神经元；多个功能隔间，反过来，具有重要的 对突触整合和可塑性的影响。 这一分析的结果将与信号传递的基础神经科学有关。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Understanding the biophysical properties of single neurons and how they process information is fundamental to understanding how brain works. The long-term objective of this proposal is to contribute to understanding the logic of information processing in the dendrites of individual vertebrate neurons. We will utilize new tools, based on a recently developed high-resolution imaging technique with intracellular voltage-sensitive dyes, to examine two notable spatial aspects of dendritic integration; (a) processing of sensory information in two functional compartments of mitral cells of the olfactory bulb and (b) functional subdivisions of CA1 pyramidal neuron dendritic tree. An accurate description of interactions between excitatory and inhibitory components in different dendritic compartments of mitral and tufted cells should facilitate understanding of the process of signal integration in the olfactory bulb. Such an understanding would be an important step toward comprehension of neuronal mechanisms involved in sensory perception. The postulate that synaptic amplification of the backpropagating action potential is restricted to the site of synaptic input is based on computer simulation and indirect experimental evidence. This is an important hypothesis because spatially restricted changes in excitability could functionally subdivide a neuron; multiple functional compartments, in turn, have important implications for synaptic integration and plasticity. The results of this analysis will bear on the basic neuroscience of signaling.