Dendritic excitability of layer 2/3 neocortical pyramidal neurons in awake rats

描述（由申请人提供）：许多神经元的树突含有电压门控通道，这些通道将其他被动结构转变为电兴奋的树突。树突的兴奋性使动作电位从体细胞反向传播到树突，并在树突中形成尖峰，这些现象在突触整合和突触可塑性中起着重要作用。树突兴奋性已经在脑切片制备中得到了广泛的研究，在麻醉动物中也得到了较少的研究，但对清醒动物的树突兴奋性知之甚少。为了了解正在进行的突触活动如何影响体内突触整合和可塑性，在这个项目中，我们将使用全细胞记录和双光子成像技术直接测量清醒动物的树突兴奋性，使用动作电位传播到树突树的程度作为树突兴奋性的测量。由于这是第一次在清醒的动物身上使用这些高分辨率技术，我们的研究将为清醒动物的树突功能提供前所未有的信息。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The dendrites of many neurons contain voltage-gated channels that turn otherwise passive structures into electrically excitable dendrites. Dendritic excitability enables backpropagation of action potentials from the soma into the dendritic tree and the initiation of spikes in the dendrite and these phenomena play important roles in synaptic integration and in synaptic plasticity. Dendritic excitability has been studied extensively in brain slice preparations and to a lesser extent in anesthetized animals, but little is known about dendritic excitability in awake animals. To understand how ongoing synaptic activity affects synaptic integration and plasticity in vivo, in this project we will directly measure dendritic excitability in awake animals using whole-cell recording and two-photon imaging techniques, using the extent of propagation of action potentials into the dendritic tree as a measure of dendritic excitability. Since these are the first studies to use these high-resolution techniques in awake animals, our studies will provide unprecedented information on dendritic function in awake animals.