A causal spatial role for apical dendrites in the cortex

Authors

Liu, A., Harris, K. D., Carandini, M., Rossi, L. F.

Abstract

Cortical pyramidal neurons project a long apical dendrite to layer 1 (L1), to receive synaptic inputs that are thought to provide contextual and possibly suppressive modulation. In visual cortex, these inputs are thought to drive or suppress the responses to large stimuli. Here, we demonstrate a causal role for individual apical dendrites in the awake cortex. We per-formed two-photon assisted dendritic pruning in individual L5 neurons of the mouse primary visual cortex and discovered that apical dendrites do not suppress the responses to large stimuli; rather, they drive the responses of neurons that prefer such stimuli. To establish the synaptic basis of this effect, we imaged the excitatory synaptic inputs targeting the apical dendrite. We found that these inputs cover an extensive region, which is largest in neurons that prefer large stimuli. These results reveal a clear spatial role for apical dendrites in the cortex.

Preprint server: bioRxiv
The authors list and abstract were imported from bioRxiv on 29 Jul 2026.

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