
The Theoretical Foundation of Dendritic Function
Selected Papers of Wilfrid Rall with Commentaries
MIT Press
Published on 22. November 1994
Book
Hardback
468 pages
978-0-262-19356-6 (ISBN)
Description
Wilfrid Rall was a pioneer in establishing the integrative functions of neuronal dendrites that have provided a foundation for neurobiology in general and computational neuroscience in particular. This collection of fifteen previously published papers, some of them not widely available, have been carefully chosen and annotated by Rall's colleagues and other leading neuroscientists. It brings together Rall's work over more than forty years, including his first papers extending cable theory to complex dendritic trees, his ground-breaking paper introducing compartmental analysis to computational neuroscience, and his studies of synaptic integration in motoneurons, dendrodendritic interactions, plasticity of dendritic spines, and active dendritic properties.
Today it is well known that the brain's synaptic information is processed mostly in the dendrites where many of the plastic changes underlying learning and memory take place. It is particularly timely to look again at the work of a major creator of the field, to appreciate where things started and where they have led, and to correct any misinterpretations of Rall's work. The editors' introduction highlights the major insights that were gained from Rall's studies as well as from those of his collaborators and followers. It asks the questions that Rall proposed during his scientific career and briefly summarizes the answers.
The papers include commentaries by Milton Brightman, Robert E. Burke, William R. Holmes, Donald R. Humphrey, Julian J. B. Jack, John Miller, Stephen Redman, John Rinzel, Idan Segev, Gordon M. Shepherd, and Charles Wilson.
Today it is well known that the brain's synaptic information is processed mostly in the dendrites where many of the plastic changes underlying learning and memory take place. It is particularly timely to look again at the work of a major creator of the field, to appreciate where things started and where they have led, and to correct any misinterpretations of Rall's work. The editors' introduction highlights the major insights that were gained from Rall's studies as well as from those of his collaborators and followers. It asks the questions that Rall proposed during his scientific career and briefly summarizes the answers.
The papers include commentaries by Milton Brightman, Robert E. Burke, William R. Holmes, Donald R. Humphrey, Julian J. B. Jack, John Miller, Stephen Redman, John Rinzel, Idan Segev, Gordon M. Shepherd, and Charles Wilson.
More details
Series
Edition
Annotated edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge, Mass.
United States
Publishing group
MIT Press Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Annotated edition
Illustrations
bibliography, index
Dimensions
Height: 254 mm
Width: 178 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
1112 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-262-19356-6 (9780262193566)
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Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Editor
Chief of the Mathematical Research Branch, NIODK, NIH
Foreword