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Abstract

Dendrites represent the compartment of neurons primarily devoted to
collecting and computating input. Far from being static structures,
dendrites are highly dynamic during development and appear to be
capable of plastic changes during the adult life of animals. During
development, it is a combination of intrinsic programs and external
signals that shapes dendrite morphology; input activity is a conserved
extrinsic factor involved in this process. In adult life, dendrites
respond with more modest modifications of their structure to various
types of extrinsic information, including alterations of input
activity. Here, the author reviews classical and recent evidence of
dendrite plasticity in invertebrates and vertebrates and current
progress in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms that underlie
this plasticity. Importantly, some fundamental questions such as the
functional role of dendrite remodeling and the causal link between
structural modifications of neurons and plastic processes, including
learning, are still open. (c) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop
Neurobiol 72: 7386, 2012