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A tale of two spikes

Abstract

Backpropagating action potentials amplify the response to weak dendritic inputs. A new study suggests that this may serve to link simultaneous inputs to different dendritic compartments.

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Figure 1: The association of a subthreshold distal dendritic input (1) with a backward propagating somatic action potential (2) generates a wide dendritic calcium spike (1+2) sufficient to reactivate the soma and cause a burst of firing.

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Frégnac, Y. A tale of two spikes. Nat Neurosci 2, 299–301 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/7206

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/7206

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