Dendritic Spines
Dendritic Spines - Related Videos
05:25
Quantification of Dendritic Spines Using Confocal Microscopy Imaging
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2025
Source: Gouder, et. al. Three-dimensional Quantification of Dendritic Spines from Pyramidal Neurons Derived from Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells. J. Vis. Exp. (2015).This video demonstrates the imaging and analysis of dendritic spines in transduced, immunolabeled pyramidal neurons using confocal microscopy. Background noise is reduced, and dendrites are traced by estimating their diameter and length. Automated spine segmentation involves setting parameters for dendrite and spine dimensions...
11:48
Analysis of Dendritic Spine Morphology in Cultured CNS Neurons
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Cited by 69 •
2011
Numerous recent studies have identified mutations in synaptic proteins associated with brain pathologies. Primary cultured cortical neurons offer great flexibility in examining the effects of these disease-associated proteins on dendritic spine morphology and motility.
12:51
Voltage-sensitive Dye Recording from Axons, Dendrites and Dendritic Spines of Individual Neurons in Brain Slices
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Cited by 13 •
2012
An imaging technique for monitoring of membrane potential changes with sub-micrometer spatial and sub-millisecond temporal resolution is described. The technique, based on laser excitation of voltage-sensitive dyes, allows measurements of signals in axons and axon collaterals, terminal dendritic branches, and individual dendritic spines.
14:11
Imaging Dendritic Spines of Rat Primary Hippocampal Neurons using Structured Illumination Microscopy
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Cited by 10 •
2014
This article describes a working protocol to image dendritic spines from hippocampal neurons in vitro using Structured Illumination Microscopy (SIM). Super-resolution microscopy using SIM provides image resolution significantly beyond the light diffraction limit in all three spatial dimensions, allowing the imaging of individual dendritic spines with improved detail.
09:53
Two-Photon in vivo Imaging of Dendritic Spines in the Mouse Cortex Using a Thinned-skull Preparation
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Cited by 19 •
2014
Time-lapse imaging in the living animal provides valuable information on structural reorganization in the intact brain. Here, we introduce a thinned-skull preparation that allows transcranial imaging of fluorescently labeled synaptic structures in the living mouse cortex by two-photon microscopy.
FAQs
Incoming synaptic activity initiates receptor signaling within the spine and changes the organization of its actin cytoskeleton. These linked events can enlarge, stabilize, or eliminate an individual spine, allowing synapses to adjust their structural state. Consequently, spine remodeling provides a cellular mechanism through which neural connections can change during synaptic plasticity.
Spine density, morphology, and dynamics provide complementary information rather than interchangeable measurements. Density indicates how many protrusions are present, morphology captures differences in structural form, and dynamics records changes over time. Examining all three helps distinguish a static difference in dendrites from ongoing remodeling, which is especially important when interpreting synaptic plasticity or altered circuit development.
Actin remodeling is central because the spine’s shape is not fixed. When synaptic activity engages receptor signaling, changes in actin organization can alter the protrusion’s size and stability. This makes actin a molecular link between an incoming signal and a lasting or transient structural change, helping researchers relate spine architecture to functional adaptation in neural circuits.
Studies of dendritic spines combine imaging with molecular analysis. Imaging can reveal spine density, morphology, and changes over time, while molecular measurements examine receptor signaling and actin-related remodeling. Together, these approaches connect visible structural outcomes with underlying cellular events, rather than treating spine appearance as an isolated anatomical measurement.
Measurements of spine structure and dynamics help investigate how neural circuits develop and adapt during learning and memory. Researchers can compare spine density, form, or changes over time with synaptic plasticity to ask whether structural remodeling accompanies circuit adjustment. This approach links cellular-scale changes in neuronal connections to broader changes in nervous-system function.
In disease-oriented biology, abnormal spine density, morphology, or dynamics can provide clues about disrupted neural-circuit mechanisms. Studying these features in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders helps connect cellular structural changes with altered nervous-system function. Molecular analysis adds context by indicating whether receptor signaling or actin remodeling may accompany the observed spine abnormalities.