Frequency response functions and information capacities of paired spider mechanoreceptor neurons

Pseudorandom white-noise stimulation followed by direct spectral estimation was used to obtain linear frequency response and coherence functions from paired, but dynamically different, spider mechanosensory neurons. The dynamic properties of the two neuron types were similar with either mechanical o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Biological cybernetics 2001-10, Vol.85 (4), p.293-300
Main Authors: French, A S, Höger, U, Sekizawa, S, Torkkeli, P H
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action Potentials
Animals
Cybernetics
Female
Male
Mechanoreceptors - physiology
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Spiders
Spiders - physiology
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Summary:Pseudorandom white-noise stimulation followed by direct spectral estimation was used to obtain linear frequency response and coherence functions from paired, but dynamically different, spider mechanosensory neurons. The dynamic properties of the two neuron types were similar with either mechanical or electrical stimulation, showing that action potential encoding dominates the dynamics. Phase-lag data indicated that action potential initiation occurs more rapidly during mechanical stimulation, probably in the distal sensory dendrites. Total information capacity, calculated from coherence, as well as information per action potential, were both similar in the two types of neurons, and similar to the few available estimates from other spiking neurons. However, information capacity and information per action potential both depended strongly on neuronal firing rate, which has not been reported before.
ISSN:0340-1200
1432-0770
DOI:10.1007/s004220100260