Effects of characteristic dendritic tip geometry on the electrical properties of teleost thalamic neurons

Of the factors that characterize the properties and functions of neurons, dendritic geometry is one of the most critical. We used simulations employing the multi-compartment model to study the effects of dendritic tip geometry on the electrical properties of the "large cell" in a teleost thalamic nucleus from the corpus glomerulosum. We demonstrated a dramatic geometrical "boosting" effect; passive propagation of the synaptic inputs from the dendritic tip to the soma through the dendritic stalk is less attenuated in cells with larger tips.