COMPUTATIONAL MODELS CONSTRAINED BY VOLTAGE-CLAMP DATA FOR INVESTIGATING DENDRITIC CURRENTS
We have investigated dendritic currents using a combination of experimental and modeling approaches. Voltage-clamp recordings were obtained in neurons with and without dendrites (intact vs. dissociated cells), and the recordings were compared to simulations that incorporated the corresponding dendritic morphology. This approach was applied to thalamic reticular cells to examine dendritic location of the low-threshold calcium current (ITs). The simulations matched the recordings only if ITs was located in distal dendrites with high density. Moreover, dendritic ITs was also necessary to reproduce the typical responses of these cells seen in intracellular recordings in vivo. This approach can be used to investigate other types of neurons with active dendritic currents. Introduction Thalamic reticular (RE) cells typically re burst discharges, which play a central role in the genesis of various types of synchronized sleep oscillations and epileptic behavior (Steriade et al., 1993). A low-threshold Ca current, ITs, underlies the production of these bursts (Bal and McCormick,1993; Huguenard and Prince 1992). As