BIO 416 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Excitatory Synapse, Blood Vessel, Aging Brain
3 Apr 2018
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Document Summary
Dendrites: dendrites receive input, excitatory synapses are on dendrites, because they"re so dynamic, they probably change with age, findings suggest stability, lengthening, and shortening changes, depends on brain region, neuron type, order of dendrite. In hippocampus: dentate granule neurons, show growth of dendrites between 50 and 70 year olds, small decline in 80 year olds. Increase in extent and branching until 18 months: in rats, then shows regression in dendrites, most changes occur in terminal portions, however, they stay relatively complex. In cerebellum: young adult rats, there are two main dendrites with smaller branches, the branches between the two dendrites are lost with age. Inject one cell with a dye that fits through gap junctions: see dye appear in other cells, old cells are more dye-coupled than young cells, makes them electrically coupled, means less specificity, more synchronization = less specificity.
