The mechanisms underlying the broad variety of oscillatory rhythms measured in the hippocampus during the sleep-wake cycle are not yet fully understood. In this article, we propose a computational model of the hippocampal formation based on a realistic topology and synaptic connectivity, and we analyze the effect of different changes on the network, namely the variation of synaptic conductances, the variations of the CAN channel conductance and the variation of inputs. By using a detailed simulation of intracerebral recordings, we show that this model is able to reproduce both the theta-nested gamma oscillations that are seen in awake brains and the sharp-wave ripple complexes measured during slow-wave sleep. The results of our simulations support the idea that the functional connectivity of the hippocampus, modulated by the sleep-wake variations in Acetylcholine concentration, is a key factor in controlling its rhythms.
The hippocampus is a brain area involved in many memory processes. This structure can also be affected in neurological diseases such as mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. A better understanding of its electrophysiological activity could benefit both the neuroscientific and clinical communities. We proposed, in a previous paper, a detailed bio-realistic conductance-based mathematical model of more than thirty thousand neurons to reproduce the main oscillatory features of the healthy hippocampus during slow-wave sleep and wakefulness, from slow to very fast frequencies. One big challenge of this model is its parametrization. The aim of the present work is to combine neuroscientific expertise and systematic yet efficient exploration of the highly dimensional parameter space using well defined identification methods, namely the design of experiments and the Sobol's sensitivity analysis.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.