Dendritic excitations govern back-propagation via a spike-rate accelerometer
Dendrites on neurons support electrical excitations, but the computational significance of these events is not well understood. We developed molecular, optical, and computational tools for all-optical electrophysiology in dendrites. We mapped sub-millisecond voltage dynamics throughout the dendritic trees of CA1 pyramidal neurons under diverse optogenetic and synaptic stimulus patterns, in acute brain slices. Our data show history-dependent spike back-propagation in distal dendrites, driven by locally generated Na<sup>+</sup> spikes (dSpikes). Dendritic depolarization created a transient window for dSpike propagation, opened by A-type K<sub>V</sub> channel inactivation, and closed by slow Na<sub>V</sub> inactivation. Collisions of dSpikes with synaptic inputs triggered calcium channel and N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-dependent dendritic plateau potentials and accompanying complex spikes at the soma. This hierarchical ion channel network acts as a spike-rate accelerometer, providing an intuitive picture connecting dendritic biophysics to associative plasticity rules.
Authors
- Yitong Qi
- Hunter C. Davis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1655-692X)
- Liam Paninski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0276-7032)
- Byung Hun Lee (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0001-4846)
- Daniel G. Itkis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8948-2260)
- Benjamin Antin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3361-985X)
- Luke D. Lavis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0789-6343)
- Jonathan B. Grimm (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0331-4200)
- Katie L. Holland (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1183-195X)
- Adam E. Cohen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8699-2404)
- Pojeong Park (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5574-6104)
- Amol Pasarkar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2970-3207)
- Sarah E. Plutkis (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1822-0466)
- J. David Wong-Campos
Institutions
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science and Technology (KR)
- Janelia Research Campus (US)
- Harvard University Press (US)
- Columbia University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-02-04
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-55819-9
- Citations
- 20
- Primary Topic
- Photoreceptor and optogenetics research
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 18.18
Funders
- National Institutes of Health