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Characteristics of electrotonic spread along the dendritic tree of retinal ganglion cells

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Abstract

Morphometric investigations of four types of dendritic trees of frog retinal ganglion cells show that these trees cannot be satisfactorily represented by an equivalent cable cylinder. In calculations of the electrotonic characteristics the geometric properties of the dendritic trees were accordingly considered. The following electrotonic characteristics were calculated for steady-state excitation: input resistances, coefficients of electrotonic transmission, and electrotonic efficiency of the bifurcations and the middle and end of the dendritic segments, as well as the electrotonic length of the dendritic tree and input resistances of the cell body. Model investigations showed that the electrotonic characteristics are determined mainly by extensiveness. The calculated values of electrotonic efficiency point to the physiological importance of the electrotonic spread of excitation in the dendrites of the retinal ganglion cells.

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Kaunas Medical Institute. Translated from Neirofiziologiya, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 304–311, May–June, 1974.

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Venslauskas, M.I., Gutauskas, A.I. Characteristics of electrotonic spread along the dendritic tree of retinal ganglion cells. Neurophysiology 6, 241–247 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01062423

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01062423

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