The future of dendrite research

This chapter briefly summarizes the progress made in the field of dendrites since the first two editions of the book, and speculates about areas of research where significant future progress is likely to be made. It highlights seven “known unknowns,” ranging from the subcellular distributions of proteins, through dendritic input maps, to the role of dendrites in disease. The chapter concludes by emphasizing the importance of theory for synthesizing experimental observations and for guiding new experimental work.