Modelling the restoration of activity in a biological neural network

Abstract

Abstract-Understanding the mechanisms of restoration of activity in biological neural systems following exposure to damage is key for design of future neuro-prosthetic devices and restorative treatments. The pyloric rhythm network within the crustacean stomatogastric ganglion is a biological neural system that shows spontaneous restoration of activity following the stopping of inputs from higher control ganglia. We model the restoration of the activity in this network using conductancebased models of neurons and the alteration of conductance parameters of the model. Our analysis shows that this approach works only if some of the conductance values remain constrained following the stopping of higher inputs. Our model also shows that in order to model the restoration of the activity in this network it is not necessary to rely on complicated alterations of the mechanisms of Calcium ionic currents in the model, which was proposed previously.

Towards an Accurate Identification of Pyloric Neuron Activity with VSDi

“…Analytically, it is a classic model for motor pattern generation, where regular and predictable oscillatory activities of the participating neurons can be monitored and studied in vitro. In particular, a typical approach identifies neuron types participating in the PR by comparing the intracellular membrane potential oscillations and firing phases using extracellular captured activity patterns through the lateral ventricular nerve (lvn) [2][3][4]. This paper demonstrates the identification of pyloric neurons in the STG using the image/data obtained from the optical recordings with the VSDi approach described above without resorting to the difficult electrophysiological method of intracellular electrode recordings.…”