The dendritic morphology of hippocampal dentate granule cells varies with their position in the granule cell layer: a quantitative Golgi study.

The dendritic morphology of Golgi-stained hippocampal dentate granule cells was evaluated by measuring the amount and location of dendrite, and the number of length of dendritic branches. Granule cells with somata in the superficial third of the granule cell layer has substantially more dendritic material than those with somata in the deep portions of the cell layer; this difference occurred throughout the extent of the molecular layer. Superficial cells also had different dendritic branching patterns and wider dendritic fields than did cells located in the deeper two-thirds of the granule cell layer. These results indicate that the position of neurons within the cell layer should be taken into account when quantifying the dendritic fields of dentate granule cells.