Dendritic spikes have been observed in various neurons in various brain regions, from the neocortex and cerebellum to the basal ganglia, in the half-century since their discovery by authors and colleagues. Dendrites have a fantastically diverse but stereotypical repertoire of spikes, which are sometimes specific to dendrite sub regions. Despite their prevalence, we know very little about their role in animal behavior. The purpose of this article is to survey the entire spectrum of dendritic spikes found in excitatory and inhibitory neurons, compare them in vivo versus in vitro, and discuss new studi- -es describing dendritic spikes in the human cortex. We concentrate on neocortical and hippocampal neurons and present a strategy for identifying and comprehending the broader role of dendritic spikes in single-cell computation.
