help button home button Biophys. J.
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS

Biophysical Journal 13: 648-688 (1973)
© 1973 the Biophysical Society

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Rall, W.
Right arrow Articles by Rinzel, J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Rall, W.
Right arrow Articles by Rinzel, J.

Branch Input Resistance and Steady Attenuation for Input to One Branch of a Dendritic Neuron Model

Wilfrid Rall and John Rinzel

ABSTRACT

Mathematical solutions and numerical illustrations are presented for the steady-state distribution of membrane potential in an extensively branched neuron model, when steady electric current is injected into only one dendritic branch. Explicit expressions are obtained for input resistance at the branch input site and for voltage attenuation from the input site to the soma; expressions for AC steady-state input impedance and attenuation are also presented. The theoretical model assumes passive membrane properties and the equivalent cylinder constraint on branch diameters. Numerical examples illustrate how branch input resistance and steady attenuation depend upon the following: the number of dendritic trees, the orders of dendritic branching, the electrotonic length of the dendritic trees, the location of the dendritic input site, and the input resistance at the soma. The application to cat spinal motoneurons, and to other neuron types, is discussed. The effect of a large dendritic input resistance upon the amount of local membrane depolarization at the synaptic site, and upon the amount of depolarization reaching the soma, is illustrated and discussed; simple proportionality with input resistance does not hold, in general. Also, branch input resistance is shown to exceed the input resistance at the soma by an amount that is always less than the sum of core resistances along the path from the input site to the soma.




This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Biophys. JHome page
A. Priel, A. J. Ramos, J. A. Tuszynski, and H. F. Cantiello
A Biopolymer Transistor: Electrical Amplification by Microtubules
Biophys. J., June 15, 2006; 90(12): 4639 - 4643.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Neurophysiol.Home page
I. Segev
What do dendrites and their synapses tell the neuron?
J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2006; 95(3): 1295 - 1297.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 J. Physiol.Home page
M. Bikson, M. Inoue, H. Akiyama, J. K. Deans, J. E. Fox, H. Miyakawa, and J. G. R. Jefferys
Effects of uniform extracellular DC electric fields on excitability in rat hippocampal slices in vitro
J. Physiol., May 15, 2004; 557(1): 175 - 190.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 ScienceHome page
R. Coss and A Globus
Spine stems on tectal interneurons in jewel fish are shortened by social stimulation
Science, May 19, 1978; 200(4343): 787 - 790.
[Abstract] [PDF]


HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1973 by the Biophysical Society.