This suggests that apical dendrites may be organizing information in a spatially grouped way, while basal dendrites may be more focused on aligning inputs with the overall activity of the neuron.

Like the apical oblique dendrites, the tuft dendrites have a low density of NMDA receptors. Harnett's lab is now studying what happens in all of these different types of dendrites as mice perform ...

It had been previously shown by other researchers that around 5% of CA1 pyramidal cells had axons shooting out of their apical dendrites. In other words, the upper regions of the extended cell.

Surprisingly, each dendrite type followed different rules for synaptic strengthening during learning. Specifically, the team found that synapses on apical dendrites became stronger when activated ...

More information: Evidence That Dendritic Mitochondria Negatively Regulate Dendritic Branching in Pyramidal Neurons in the Neocortex, The Journal of Neuroscience, 14 May 2014, 34(20): 6938-6951 ...

In apical dendrites, synapses were strengthened when they were coactive with nearby neighbors, suggesting that plasticity here is governed by local interactions between adjacent inputs.

These are called apical and basal dendrites, respectively, and the study’s results suggest that they have distinctly different functions.