Action potential
It is known that changes in dendritic excitability affect action potential back propagation. Action potentials begin near the axon hillock and propagate down the length of the axon, but they also propagate backward through the soma into the dendritic arbor. Active back propagation is dependent on ion channels and changing the densities or properties of these channels can influence the degree to which the signal is attenuated. Plasticity of back-propagation in the dendrites occurs in less than one minute and lasts longer than 25 minutes. Back propagation is a method of signaling to the synapses that an action potential was fired. This is important for spike-timing-dependent plasticity.