The Influence of Neuron Shape Changes on the Firing Characteristics

In this paper, we evaluate numerically the influence of the changes of the neuron shape on the firing characteristics. We construct a new neuronal model of the pyramidal cell at the CA3 hippocampus based on the compartmental model to analyze quantitatively the firing characteristics. We find the following facts. First, the soma shape affects the action potential frequency. Secondly, the soma is more sensitive to the signal from the apical dendrite if the peak of the cone is sharper. These facts lead to a hypothesis that the shape is significant factor in coding the neuronal information