AUTHOR=DeFelipe Javier TITLE=The dendritic spine story: an intriguing process of discovery JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neuroanatomy VOLUME=9 YEAR=2015 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroanatomy/articles/10.3389/fnana.2015.00014 DOI=10.3389/fnana.2015.00014 ISSN=1662-5129 ABSTRACT=

Dendritic spines are key components of a variety of microcircuits and they represent the majority of postsynaptic targets of glutamatergic axon terminals in the brain. The present article will focus on the discovery of dendritic spines, which was possible thanks to the application of the Golgi technique to the study of the nervous system, and will also explore the early interpretation of these elements. This discovery represents an interesting chapter in the history of neuroscience as it shows us that progress in the study of the structure of the nervous system is based not only on the emergence of new techniques but also on our ability to exploit the methods already available and correctly interpret their microscopic images.