A schematic diagram illustrating the arrival of axons onto layer III neurons during normal development (top). A schematic diagram illustrating the arrival of axons onto layer III neurons during normal development (top). Arriving terminals normally contact spines or distal dendrites. If neurons are hypertrophied and have lost dendrites and spines, as suggested in the bottom diagram, arriving axon terminals, many of which are excitatory, corticocortical connections, could be guided to synapse with the cell body instead. Sarah Bothwell et al. J. Neurosci. 2001;21:4789-4800 ©2001 by Society for Neuroscience