In most cases the primary apical dendrite extends for several hundred microns before branching to form an apical tuft, consisting of dendrites that branch a few times before terminating. A single apical dendrite emerges from the apex of the pyramidal soma. Viewed from below, the basal dendritic tree appears very similar in form to a stellate neuron ( Elston and Rosa, 1998). Each basal dendrite branches up to several times before terminating.
Several basal dendrites emerge from the base of the pyramidal soma. Nevertheless, pyramidal neurons have a stereotypical morphology, which is best characterized by the presence of separate basal and apical dendritic trees. The structure of pyramidal neurons, although stereotypical, is quite variable, both between regions (e.g. The extensive branching of the dendrites and the axon allows a single to neuron to communicate with thousands of other neurons in a network. endocannabinoids), so communication is somewhat bidirectional. Pyramidal neuron dendrites can also release retrograde signaling molecules (e.g. The dendrites of pyramidal neurons are usually regarded as input structures, receiving synaptic contacts from other neurons, while the axon serves as its output to other neurons. Like most neurons, pyramidal neurons have multiple dendrites and a single axon, but both dendrites and axons branch extensively. Since then, many other studies have probed the structure of pyramidal neurons in great detail. Pyramidal neurons were extensively characterized at the turn of the 19th century by the Spanish neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal. Adapted from (a) Woolley et al., 1996 and (b) Matus, 2000. Figure 3: (a) A stretch of dendrite covered with dendritic spines (examples indicated by arrows) and (b) a dendrite stained for microtubule-associated protein 2 (red) and actin (green).
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