RCG cable analysis of a dendritic tree based on Rail's idealized model

Rail's idealized model of a dendritic tree is sufficiently simple so that an RCG cable analysis is feasible. When numerical values are substituted, further simplification occurs because it is assumed that the width of a postsynaptic potential (PSP) is the same as the shunt C/G time constant, 4 ms. The calculation shows that if a PSP having a peak amplitude of 100 mV is launched at the extreme end of the tree, it will arrive at the neuron body having a peak amplitude of 0.4625 mV and a width of 7.5 ms. The net stimulus arriving at the neuron body can be easily approximated, no matter how complex the set of input conditions, if dendritic potentials are replaced by their equivalent rectangular pulses.