Abstract
There is presently a controversy as to whether the very large number of small (~1 μm) protrusions, called dendritic spines, on neurons play an active role in the electrical signaling between neurons. The second harmonic generation (SHG) experiments reported here are the first measurements of the voltage at spines, thereby demonstrating that the electrical properties of spines can be optically accessed. It is shown that SHG can image fast neuron membrane potential changes of ~ 10μs, which is faster than neuron signaling, typically in the ms range.The voltage response of a spine, measured by SHG, following a voltage pulse initiated at the main body of the neuron was faster than 10μs, and importantly was transmitted without significant voltage attenuation. The observed linear dependence of the SHG intensity on the voltage across the neuronal membrane is attributed to an electrooptic process.
© 2006 Optical Society of America
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