Dendrite Morphology and Its

Effects
By Prion and Rhinovirus
 An Overview of Neurons
Dendrite Axon Terminal
Node of
Soma Ranvier

Axon
Schwann Cell
Meylin Sheath
Nucleus
Informative Background
What is Dendrite Morphology?

• Dendrite Morphology - study on how a dendrite

changes shape and length

• changes in response to multiple psychological

stimuli, such as chronic or short term stress

• Important because it changes the frequency

with which neurons fire
Synapse
 Burst Firing

• rapid spikes followed by periods of inactivity

• occurs in CNS and spinal cord

• Tonic Firing: the state in which neurons are

constantly firing, but at lower frequencies
 Effects of Burst Firing

Seizures occur when the electrical

impulses firing between these neurons
misfire or begin to fire much too rapidly.
When contradictory signals are sent at the
same time, it causes a seizure.
 History of Research
• Valentin was the first to describe the cells of nervous tissue,
nucleus and nucleolus of neurons, in 1836.

• 1837: Purkinje described subtle elongated fiber-like

processes which seemed to be peculiar to the nervous
system. 

• 1863: Deiters saw clear and complete images of neuron cells,

and found that there were two different kinds of branching
processes attached to the soma: tree like, short branches, and
a long fiber he called an “axis cylinder.”

• 20 years later, dendrites were named.

• Gerlach proposed that nerve impulses traveled
from cell to cell through the filaments, and that
the brain was formed by giant nets, or reticula,
with a huge number of such interconnected
filaments.

• Bowditch: All neural functions could be the

result of transmission of electric charges sent
throughout the web of neurons.
The First of the Articles: Impact of Dendritic
Size and Dendritic Topology on Burst Firing

• Used a computational model to evaluate the

impact of changes in dendrite

• Length: Pruning the branches

• Size: Condensing and Expanding

• Topology: Rearranging Branches

 Results

• Length: degree of bursting decreases as length

decreases

• Size: burst firing disappears as length decreases;

only a certain range in which burst firing is
exhibited (too large, no bursting)

• Implies that small change in length can cause big

change in firing pattern
• Topology:
Remodeling
topology can
change firing
state of cell; also
influences degree
of bursting
The Second of the Articles: Burst Firing and
Epilepsy
• Point of experiment: to show that the loss of
function of dendrites plays an important role in
generation of absence seizures.

• Method: took rat brain slices from rats afflicted

with a seizure disorder and used dendritic and
somatic stimulation while taking readings using
an electrocorticogram.

• Electrocorticogram: A record of electrical

activity derived directly from the cerebral
cortex.
 results

They found that dendrites

play a key role in absence
seizures. A reduction in
dendrites modifies the
action potential output of
pyramidal neurons that
caused increased burst
firing.
 Research Importance

• Could lead to development to the cure of

degenerative mental disease that concentrates on
fixing dendritic structures

• In epilepsy, dendritic length is reduced

• In Alzheimer’s, there is a reduced amount of

length and branches in the dendrites
 Studying in Further Areas

• Direct experimentation on Neurons

• With a Focus On...

• Manipulating dendrite characteristics

• Direct experimentation on Neurons affected by

psychological stresses

• With a focus on...

• Rehabilitating lost dendrite length and size