Somato-dendritic Interactions Underlying Action Potential Generation in Neocortical Pyramidal Cells in Vivo

Action potential (AP) generation and propagation through the dendritic tree of pyramidal neurons has received much attention lately1. Experiments indicate that inhibitory postsynaptic potentials (IPSPs) have a decisive e ect in controlling action potential invasion in dendrites2, 3. However, these phenomena were observed in slices, and remain to be investigated under in vivo conditions where neurons are subject to intense synaptic activity. Here, we have combined computational models with intracellular recordings of neocortical pyramidal cells in order to investigate how spikes can be controlled by IPSPs in vivo.