Integrator or coincidence detector --- what shapes the relation of stimulus synchrony and the operational mode of a neuron?

Achilleas  Koutsou; Jacob  Kanev; Maria  Economidou; Chris  Christodoulou; Achilleas  Koutsou; Jacob  Kanev; Maria  Economidou; Chris  Christodoulou

doi:10.3934/mbe.2016005

Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering

2016, Volume 13, Issue 3: 521-535. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2016005

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Integrator or coincidence detector --- what shapes the relation of stimulus synchrony and the operational mode of a neuron?

1.
Department of Computer Science, University of Cyprus, 1678 Nicosia
2.
Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Technische Universitat Berlin, 10587 Berlin

Received: 01 March 2015 Accepted: 29 June 2018 Published: 01 January 2016
MSC : 92B25, 92C20, 92-08.

The operational mode of a neuron (i.e., whether a neuron is an integrator or a coincidence detector) is in part determined by the degree of synchrony in the firing of its pre-synaptic neural population. More specifically, it is determined by the degree of synchrony that causes the neuron to fire. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the input and the operational mode. We compare the response-relevant input synchrony, which measures the operational mode and can be determined using a membrane potential slope-based measure [7], with the spike time distance of the spike trains driving the neuron, which measures spike train synchrony and can be determined using the multivariate SPIKE-distance metric [10]. We discover that the relationship between the two measures changes substantially based on the values of the parameters of the input (firing rate and number of spike trains) and the parameters of the post-synaptic neuron (synaptic weight, membrane leak time constant and spike threshold). More importantly, we determine how the parameters interact to shape the synchrony-operational mode relationship. Our results indicate that the amount of depolarisation caused by a highly synchronous volley of input spikes, is the most influential factor in defining the relationship between input synchrony and operational mode. This is defined by the number of input spikes and the membrane potential depolarisation caused per spike, compared to the spike threshold.
- Operational mode,
- membrane potential slope,
- coincidence detection,
- temporal integration.,
- spike distance metrics,
- input synchrony
Citation: Achilleas Koutsou, Jacob Kanev, Maria Economidou, Chris Christodoulou. Integrator or coincidence detector --- what shapes the relation of stimulus synchrony and the operational mode of a neuron?[J]. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 2016, 13(3): 521-535. doi: 10.3934/mbe.2016005

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Abstract

The operational mode of a neuron (i.e., whether a neuron is an integrator or a coincidence detector) is in part determined by the degree of synchrony in the firing of its pre-synaptic neural population. More specifically, it is determined by the degree of synchrony that causes the neuron to fire. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between the input and the operational mode. We compare the response-relevant input synchrony, which measures the operational mode and can be determined using a membrane potential slope-based measure [7], with the spike time distance of the spike trains driving the neuron, which measures spike train synchrony and can be determined using the multivariate SPIKE-distance metric [10]. We discover that the relationship between the two measures changes substantially based on the values of the parameters of the input (firing rate and number of spike trains) and the parameters of the post-synaptic neuron (synaptic weight, membrane leak time constant and spike threshold). More importantly, we determine how the parameters interact to shape the synchrony-operational mode relationship. Our results indicate that the amount of depolarisation caused by a highly synchronous volley of input spikes, is the most influential factor in defining the relationship between input synchrony and operational mode. This is defined by the number of input spikes and the membrane potential depolarisation caused per spike, compared to the spike threshold.

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This article has been cited by:

1.	Christina Zavou, Antria Kkoushi, Achilleas Koutsou, Chris Christodoulou, Synchrony measure for a neuron driven by excitatory and inhibitory inputs and its adaptation to experimentally-recorded data, 2017, 161, 03032647, 46, 10.1016/j.biosystems.2017.09.010
2.	Jacob Kanev, Achilleas Koutsou, Chris Christodoulou, Klaus Obermayer, Integrator or Coincidence Detector: A Novel Measure Based on the Discrete Reverse Correlation to Determine a Neuron’s Operational Mode, 2016, 28, 0899-7667, 2091, 10.1162/NECO_a_00875

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