Pyramidal cell
<p>Jan 30, 2011 09:36 PM
 
discovered by Santiago Ramon y Cajal.
 
triangular soma =>  named for this;  cell body (soma is about 20 microns)
 
one single skinny axon
 
a large apical dendrite
 
multiple basal dendrites.
 
Pyramidal cells are among the <b>largest neurons in the brain</b>. Both in humans and rodents, pyramidal cell bodies (somas) <b>average around ~ 20μm.</b> Pyramidal dendrites typically range in diameter from half a micrometer to several micrometers. The <b>length of a single dendrite is usually several hundred micrometers.</b> Due to branching, the<b> total dendritic length of a pyramidal cell may reach several centimeters.</b> The pyramidal cell’s axon is often even longer and extensively branched, reaching <b>many centimeters in total length</b>.
  (eg Corticospinal tract  !!!)
 
A typical human apical dendrite may have  up to 6000 dendritic spines!
 
A <b>single pyramidal cell receives about 30,000 excitatory inputs and 1700 inhibitory</b> (<a class="mw-redirect" title="IPSP" href="/wiki/IPSP">IPSPs</a>) inputs. Excitatory (EPSPs) inputs <b>terminate exclusively on the dendritic spines,</b> while inhibitory (IPSPs) inputs terminate on dendritic shafts, the soma, and even the axon. Pyramidal neurons use <a class="mw-redirect" title="Glutamate" href="/wiki/Glutamate">glutamate</a> as their excitatory <a title="Neurotransmitter" href="/wiki/Neurotransmitter">neurotransmitter</a>, and <a class="mw-redirect" title="GABA" href="/wiki/GABA">GABA</a> as their inhibitory neurotransmitter.<sup id="cite_ref-Megias_2-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Megias-2">[3]</a></sup>
 
 
 
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