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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Two-photon Calcium Imaging in Neuronal Dendrites in Brain Slices
Published on: March 15, 2018
Spatial profile of back-propagating action potential-evoked Ca2+ transients in basal dendrites
Kwang-Hyun Cho1, Myung-Jun Kim, Shin Hee Yoon
1Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, South Korea.
Abstract:
Calcium influx in basal dendrites evoked by back-propagating action potentials is important for understanding the input-specific modulation of synaptic transmission. Calcium transients evoked by back-propagating action potentials were measured for the basal dendrites of layer II/III pyramidal neurons in visual cortex slices. In contrast to apical dendrites, the peak calcium transients evoked by a single somatic action potential increased with distance from the soma. The peak calcium transients evoked by bursts of back-propagating action potentials (three or five pulses, 20 Hz) were greater than those evoked by a single back-propagating action potential. These different spatial profiles for calcium transients triggered by back-propagating action potentials between apical and basal dendrites suggest that the segregated inputs from brain areas might be modulated in different ways, according to their synaptic location.
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