The big insight I had was that dendrite spikes are predictions. A dendrite spike occurs when a set of synapses close to each other on a distal dendrite get input at the same time, and it means that the neuron has recognized a pattern of activity in some other neurons. When the pattern of activity is detected, it creates a dendrite spike, which raises the voltage at the cell body, putting the cell into what we call a predictive state. The neuron is then primed to spike. It is similar to how a runner who hears “Ready, set…” is primed to start running. If a neuron in a predictive state
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