Dendrites carry signals between synapses and the soma and play a central role in neural computation. Although they contain many nonlinear ion channels, their signal-transfer properties are linear under some experimental conditions. In experiments with continuous-time inputs, a resonant linear two-port model has been shown to provide a near-perfect fit to the dendrite-to-soma input-output relationship. In this study, we focused on this linear aspect of signal transfer using impedance functions

more »

... at replace biophysical channel models in order to describe the electrical properties of the dendritic membrane. The membrane impedance model of dendrites preserves the accuracy of the two-port model with minimal computational complexity. Using this approach, we demonstrate two membrane impedance profiles of dendrites that reproduced the experimentally observed two-port results. These impedance profiles demonstrate that the two-port results are compatible with different computational schemes. In addition, our model highlights how dendritic resonance can minimize the location-dependent attenuation of signals at the resonant frequency. Thus, in this model, dendrites function as linearresonant filters that carry signals between nonlinear computational units.