Firing-rate response of a neuron receiving excitatory and inhibitory synaptic shot noise

The synaptic coupling between neurons in neocortical networks is sufficiently strong so that relatively few synchronous synaptic pulses are required to bring a neuron from rest to the spiking threshold. However, such finite-amplitude effects of fluctuating synaptic drive are missed in the standard d...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2010-10, Vol.105 (17), p.178102-178102, Article 178102
Main Authors: Richardson, Magnus J E, Swarbrick, Rupert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action Potentials - physiology
Models, Neurological
Neural Inhibition - physiology
Neurons - physiology
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The synaptic coupling between neurons in neocortical networks is sufficiently strong so that relatively few synchronous synaptic pulses are required to bring a neuron from rest to the spiking threshold. However, such finite-amplitude effects of fluctuating synaptic drive are missed in the standard diffusion approximation. Here exact solutions for the firing-rate response to modulated presynaptic rates are derived for a neuron receiving additive excitatory and inhibitory synaptic shot noise with exponential amplitude distributions. The shot-noise description of the neuronal response to synaptic dynamics is shown to be richer and qualitatively distinct from that predicted by the diffusion approximation. It is also demonstrated how the framework developed here can be generalized to multiplicative shot noise so as to better capture effects of the inhibitory reversal potential.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.178102