Influence of dendritic topology on firing patterns in model neurons

Duijnhouwer, J., Remme, M. W. H., Van Ooyen, A., and Van Pelt, J. (2001). Neurocomputing 38-40: 183-189. [Full text: PDF] [Errata: PDF]

Abstract

Neuronal electrophysiology is influenced by both channel distribution and morphology. Distinguishing two sources of morphological variability -- metrics and topology -- we show that model neurons that share the same channel densities and anatomical size can still derive functional differentiation from their dendritic topology. Firing frequencies in these metrically reduced neurons show a strong correlation with both mean path length and total electronic transformed size of the dendritic tree. This dependence of spiking behaviour on dendritic topology is robust to different modes of stimulation, different tapering powers, and the absence of active dendritic channels.