Camillo Golgi's "Reazione Nera" led to the discovery of dendritic spines, small appendages originating from dendritic shafts. With the advent of electron microscopy (EM) they were identified as sites of synaptic contact. Later it was found that changes in synaptic strength were associated with changes in the shape of dendritic spines. While live-cell imaging was advantageous in monitoring the t...

Actin is a versatile and ubiquitous cytoskeletal protein that plays a major role in both the establishment and the maintenance of neuronal polarity. For a long time, the most prominent roles that were attributed to actin in neurons were the movement of growth cones, polarized cargo sorting at the axon initial segment, and the dynamic plasticity of dendritic spines, since those compartments cont...

Spines are neuronal protrusions, each of which receives input typically from one excitatory synapse. They contain neurotransmitter receptors, organelles, and signaling systems essential for synaptic function and plasticity. Numerous brain disorders are associated with abnormal dendritic spines. Spine formation, plasticity, and maintenance depend on synaptic activity and can be modulated by sens...

BACKGROUND Dendritic spines of pyramidal neurons are distributed along the complicated structure of the dendritic branches and possess a variety of morphologies associated with synaptic strength. The location and structure of dendritic spines determine the extent of synaptic input integration in the postsynaptic neuron. However, how spine location or size relates to the position of innervating ...

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 act...

Dendritic spines, which receive most of the excitatory synaptic input in the cerebral cortex, are heterogeneous with regard to their structure, stability and function. Spines with large heads are stable, express large numbers of AMPA-type glutamate receptors, and contribute to strong synaptic connections. By contrast, spines with small heads are motile and unstable and contribute to weak or sil...

The dendritic structures of 187 small supragranular pyramidal neurons of the posterior superior temporal gyrus were studied with rapid Golgi impregnations in postmortem samples from 10 men aged 21-71 years. The number of primary basilar dendritic branches, the total number of basilar dendritic endings, the total basilar dendritic length, the total number of visible basilar dendritic spines and ...

The formation of tin dendritic nanostructures by electrolysis from the alkaline electrolyte has been investigated. Morphology and structure Sn dendrites produced applying both potentiostatic galvanostatic regimes are characterized SEM XRD, respectively. Depending on applied cathodic potentials, three types were obtained: (a) needle-like spear-like, (b) fern-like, (c) stem-like dendrites. very b...