Pyramidal Cell

Cellula pyramidalis

The workhorse of cerebral cortex and hippocampus, a glutamatergic projection neuron with a single apical dendrite ascending toward the pia, several basal dendrites, and a long axon leaving the cortical plate.

Function

Glutamatergic, excitatory. In neocortex they stratify across six layers by where their axon goes: layer II/III pyramids project cortico-cortically, linking areas within and between hemispheres via the corpus callosum; layer V pyramids project subcortically to striatum, thalamus, brainstem, and spinal cord; layer VI pyramids project to the thalamus. Hippocampal CA1 and CA3 pyramidal neurons anchor the trisynaptic memory circuit (entorhinal -> dentate -> CA3 -> CA1).

Morphology

A triangular soma, a tall apical dendrite reaching toward the pia, several basal dendrites fanning outward, and a single axon projecting away. Dendritic spines, tiny protrusions along the dendrites, bear most of the excitatory synapses this cell receives.

Specification

  • Neurotransmitter: Glutamate
  • Receptors: AMPA; NMDA; GABA-A
  • Location: Cerebral cortex (all layers except I); hippocampal CA1 and CA3.
  • Projections: Other cortical areas; Striatum; Spinal cord
  • Firing: Regular spiking; Bursting
  • Markers: SLC17A7/VGLUT1; CAMK2A; SATB2 (callosal/IT); BCL11B/CTIP2 and FEZF2 (subcerebral); TBR1 (corticothalamic)
  • Developmental origin: Pallium (Embryonic)
  • Disease: Alzheimer's; Epilepsy; ALS
  • Cell Ontology: CL:0000598

References

  1. Ramón y Cajal S (1894). The Croonian Lecture: La fine structure des centres nerveux.. Proc R Soc London 55: 444–468
  2. Yao Z, van Velthoven CTJ, Kunst M, Zhang M, McMillen D, & Lee C (2023). A high-resolution transcriptomic and spatial atlas of cell types in the whole mouse brain.. Nature 624 PMID 38092916

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