Structure, development, and plasticity of dendritic spines

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0959-4388(99)80050-6Get rights and content

Dendritic spines are distinguished by their shapes, subcellular composition, and synaptic receptor subtypes. Recent studies show that actin-dependent movements take place in spine heads, that spines emerge from stubby and shaft synapses after dendritic filopodia disappear, and that spines can form without synaptic activation, are maintained by optimal activation, and are lost with excessive activation or during degeneration.

References and recommended reading (63)

  • BlissTVP et al.

    A synaptic model of memory: long-term potentiation in the hippocampus

    Nature

    (1993)
  • EngertF et al.

    Dendritic spine changes associated with hippocampal long-term synaptic plasticity

    Nature

    (1999)
  • LukschH et al.

    Bottlebrush dendritic endings and large dendritic fields: motion-detecting neurons in the tectofugal pathway

    J Comp Neurol

    (1998)
  • GrayEG

    Axo-somatic and axo-dendritic synapses of the cerebral cortex: an electron microscopic study

    J Anat

    (1959)
  • PetersA et al.

    The small pyramidal neuron of the rat cerebral cortex. The perikaryon, dendrites and spines

    J Anat

    (1970)
  • ChicurelME et al.

    Three-dimensional analysis of the structure and composition of CA3 branched dendritic spines and their synaptic relationships with mossy fiber boutons in the rat hippocampus

    J Comp Neurol

    (1992)
  • YoungJZ

    The giant fibre synapse of Loligo

    Brain Res

    (1973)
  • TrommaldM et al.

    Dimensions and density of dendritic spines from rat dentate granule cells based on reconstructions from serial electron micrographs

    J Comp Neurol

    (1997)
  • ShepherdGMG et al.

    Three-dimensional structure and composition of CA3→CA1 axons in rat hippocampal slices: implications for presynaptic connectivity and compartmentalization

    J Neurosci

    (1998)
  • AndersonJC et al.

    The connection from cortical area V1 to V5: a light and electron microscopic study

    J Neurosci

    (1998)
  • KennedyMB

    The postsynaptic density at glutamatergic synapses

    Trends Neurosci

    (1997)
  • NusserZ et al.

    Cell type and pathway dependence of synaptic AMPA receptor number and variability in the hippocampus

    Neuron

    (1998)
  • FieldsRD et al.

    Neural cell adhesion molecule in activity-dependent development and synaptic plasticity

    Trends Neurosci

    (1997)
  • BensonDL et al.

    N-cadherin redistribution during synaptogenesis in hippocampal neurons

    J Neurosci

    (1998)
  • SpacekJ et al.

    Three-dimensional organization of smooth endoplasmic reticulum in hippocampal CA1 dendrites and dendritic spines of the immature and mature rat

    J Neurosci

    (1997)
  • StewardO et al.

    Ultrastructural basis for gene expression at the synapse: synapse-associated polyribosome complexes

    J Neurocytol

    (1996)
  • StewardO et al.

    Synaptic activation causes the mRNA for the IEG Arc to localize selectively near activated postsynaptic sites on dendrites

    Neuron

    (1998)
  • ShepherdGM

    The dendritic spine: a multifunctional integrative unit

    J Neurophysiol

    (1996)
  • SchillerJ et al.

    NMDA receptors amplify calcium influx into dendritic spines during associative pre-and postsynaptic activation

    Nat Neurosci

    (1998)
  • SvobodaK et al.

    In vivo dendritic calcium dynamics in neocortical pyramidal neurons

    Nature

    (1997)
  • KorkotianE et al.

    Fast confocal imaging of calcium released from stores in dendritic spines

    Eur J Neurosci

    (1998)
  • Cited by (433)

    • Brain-derived estrogen and neural function

      2022, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews
    • Imaging neuronal protein signaling dynamics in vivo

      2021, Current Opinion in Neurobiology
    View all citing articles on Scopus
    View full text