1. Experimental measures of input resistance, RN, and responses to brief hyperpolarizing current pulses were obtained in identified gamma-motoneurons in pentobarbital-anesthetized cats using conventional sharp micropipettes. The same cells were subsequently injected with horseradish peroxidase and completely reconstructed. In two cells, the electrophysiological and morphological data were of sufficient quality to permit estimation of specific membrane resistance, Rm, using biologically plausible ranges of specific cytoplasmic resistance, Ri, and membrane capacitance, Cm. 2. A combination of steady-state and dynamic computer models were employed to reconcile cell morphology with RN and the trajectories of the voltage decay following brief current pulses delivered to the soma. Simulated transient responses matched the tails of the observed transient when generated with the same current injections used experimentally. With Cm < or = 1.0 microF cm-2, the most satisfactory fits were obtained when the values of Rm assigned to the soma, Rms, were much smaller than the spatially uniform value assigned to the dendrites, Rmd and Ri = 60-70 omega cm. With Cm = 1.0 microF cm-2, Rms ranged from 260 to 427 omega cm2, whereas Rmd was approximately 33 K omega cm2. With Cm = 0.8 microF cm-2, Rms ranged from 235 to 357 omega cm2 and Rmd was between 62 and 68 K omega cm2. When Rm was constrained to be spatially uniform (i.e., Rm = Rms), implausibly high values of Cm (2.5-5.0 microF cm-2; Ri = 70 omega cm) were required to match the observed tail time constant, tau o,peel, but the simulated transients did not otherwise match those obtained experimentally. 3. With best fit values of Rms and Rmd, both gamma-motoneurons were electronically relatively compact (80% of total membrane area within 0.85 length constants from the soma). However, the calculated average steady-state inward attenuation factor (AFin) for voltages generated at any point within the dendrites increased rapidly with distance from the soma, reaching levels of < or = 90 and < or = 45 for the proximal 80% of membrane area for the respective motoneurons in the presence of a somatic shunt (Rms << Rmd). If we assume that the somatic shunt is an artifact of sharp micropipette penetration (i.e., that Rms = Rmd for uninjured cells), then AFin decreased to < or = 20 and < or = 15, respectively, for the proximal 80% of cell membrane.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)