A general principle of dendritic constancy: A neuron’s size- and 
shape-invariant excitability

Cuntz, Hermann; Bird, Alex D.; Mittag, Martin; Beining, Marcel; Schneider, Marius; Mediavilla, Laura; Hoffmann, Felix Z.; Deller, Thomas; Jedlicka, Peter

doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2021.08.028

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A general principle of dendritic constancy: A neuron’s size- and shape-invariant excitability

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Cuntz, Hermann
Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;
Cuntz Lab, Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;

Bird, Alex D.
Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;
Cuntz Lab, Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;

Beining, Marcel
Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;

Schneider, Marius
Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;
Cuntz Lab, Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;

Mediavilla, Laura
Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;

Hoffmann, Felix Z.
Ernst Strüngmann Institute (ESI) for Neuroscience in Cooperation with Max Planck Society, Max Planck Society;

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0896627321006255
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Citation

Cuntz, H., Bird, A. D., Mittag, M., Beining, M., Schneider, M., Mediavilla, L., et al. (2021). A general principle of dendritic constancy: A neuron’s size- and shape-invariant excitability. Neuron, 109(22), 3647-3662.e7. doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2021.08.028.

Cite as: https://hdl.handle.net/21.11116/0000-0009-D125-1

Abstract

Summary Reducing neuronal size results in less membrane and therefore lower input conductance. Smaller neurons are thus more excitable, as seen in their responses to somatic current injections. However, the impact of a neuron’s size and shape on its voltage responses to dendritic synaptic activation is much less understood. Here we use analytical cable theory to predict voltage responses to distributed synaptic inputs in unbranched cables, showing that these are entirely independent of dendritic length. For a given synaptic density, neuronal responses depend only on the average dendritic diameter and intrinsic conductivity. This remains valid for a wide range of morphologies irrespective of their arborization complexity. Spiking models indicate that morphology-invariant numbers of spikes approximate the percentage of active synapses. In contrast to spike rate, spike times do depend on dendrite morphology. In summary, neuronal excitability in response to distributed synaptic inputs is largely unaffected by dendrite length or complexity.