Pacemaker Neurons: Effects of Regularly Spaced Synaptic Input

Perkel, Donald H.; Schulman, Joseph H.; Bullock, Theodore H.; Ge, Moore; Segundo, J. P.

doi:10.1126/science.145.3627.61

Cited by 281 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…At the single-cell level it suffices to call attention to the phase-response curve for electrical resettability of a rhythmic "bursting" neuron of Aplysia (Perkel, Schulman, Bullock, Moore and Segundo, 1964;Pinsker, 1977), which resembles the whole body response of Pteroptyx cribellata. At the network level a wealth of relevant models have been described (e.g., Selverston, 1985;Prosser, 1986).…”

Section: Parallels With Circadian Oscillatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchronous Rhythmic Flashing of Fireflies. II.

Buck¹

1988

The Quarterly Review of Biology

604

388

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Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. (Vol. 13:301-314, 1938). Since that time we have learned much about the biochemistry and physiology of firefly luminescence. The firefly lantern has even become a tool for the assay of the major energy compound of cells, ATP. The study of flash communication in many firefly species has revealed that timing relations between the flashes provide the necessary information in this system for sexual and species selection. Nowhere is the ability to control the timing of flashes more strongly exhibited than in the synchronously flashing fireflies of Southeast Asia. These fireflies provide the ultimate test of our biochemical, physiological and behavioral theories of firefly flash communication. The University of Chicago Press SYNCHRONOUS RHYTHMIC FLASHING OF FIREFLIES. II. JOHN BUCKLaboratory of Physical Biology, National Institutes of HealJh, Bethesda, Maryland 20892 USA ABSTRACT Synchronizedflashing by males of some firefly species involves a capacity for visually coordinated, rhythmically coincident, inter-individual behavior that is apparently unique in the animal kingdom exceptfor afew other arthropods andfor man. This paper reviews (1) diverse communicative interactions that have evolvedfrom elementary photic signals, (2) physiological mechanisms of synchronism, and (3) theories about its biological meaning. Work of the past 20 years shows that flash synchrony is widespread geographically and taxonomically, appears in an astonishing range of spectacular display types, utilizes several neuralflash-control mechanisms and is pervasively but enigmatically involved in courtship. No proposedfunction for synchrony has been fully established but theory and physiology concur in indicating that synchrony aids male orientation toward the female, female recognition of male flashing or both. Increased mate choice for the female is one likely ultimate benefit.

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Section: Parallels With Circadian Oscillatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synchronous Rhythmic Flashing of Fireflies. II.

Buck¹

1988

The Quarterly Review of Biology

604

388

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“…Thus inhibition has conventionally been viewed as a suppressor of neuronal response [14][15][16][17], and, in particular, causing either divisive or subtractive effect on the output firing rate [14]. But inhibition playing a facilitatory role was recognized about 50 years ago [18,19], to the best of our knowledge, in the form of postinhibitory rebound [PIR] and is thought to play a major role in central pattern generator networks [20]. In PIR a neuron fires after being released from a long-lasting hyperpolarizing input.…”

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confidence: 99%

Enhanced neuronal response induced by fast inhibition

Dodla

Rinzel

2006

Phys. Rev. E

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We report a facilitatory role of inhibitory synaptic input that can enhance a neuron's firing rate, in contrast to the conventional belief that inhibition suppresses firing. We study this phenomenon using the Hodgkin-Huxley model of spike generation with random Poisson trains of subthreshold excitatory and inhibitory inputs. Enhancement occurs when, by chance, brief inhibition leads excitation with a favorable timing and counterintuitively induces a reduction of the spike threshold. The basic mechanism is also illustrated with the phase-plane analysis of a two variable model. [12] and temporal sensitivity to coincident inputs [13]. In the classical view, an inhibitory input hyperpolarizes the membrane away from its spike threshold resulting in a reduction of the spike probability. Thus inhibition has conventionally been viewed as a suppressor of neuronal response [14][15][16][17], and, in particular, causing either divisive or subtractive effect on the output firing rate [14]. But inhibition playing a facilitatory role was recognized about 50 years ago [18,19], to the best of our knowledge, in the form of postinhibitory rebound [PIR] and is thought to play a major role in central pattern generator networks [20]. In PIR a neuron fires after being released from a long-lasting hyperpolarizing input. Here we report a facilitatory mechanism by which brief inhibitory inputs can, in contrast to the conventional belief, enhance firing probability during ongoing stimulation by trains of brief excitatory inputs. Unlike PIR, this mechanism does not require that an inhibitory input by itself leads to a rebound spike. In our case both the excitatory and inhibitory single inputs are subthreshold in magnitude.We study this phenomenon using a Hodgkin-Huxley model neuron [21] with external excitatory and inhibitory input conductances. The inputs are subthreshold α functions timed at random independent Poisson intervals. For pure excitatory driving, the neuron responds with a finite output rate due to temporal summation of nearly coincident inputs. When inhibitory inputs are included some spikes are lost but other ones are added. With respect to the onset time of these evoked spikes, inhibitory events form a temporally localized distribution leading ahead of a similar distribution of excitatory events. The leading inhibition can transiently reduce the spike threshold, and a well timed brief subthreshold excitation can utilize this to evoke a spike. We term this phenomenon as the postinhibitory facilitation (PIF) [22]. The enhanced output response could also consist of inhibitory events that are paired with another set of inhibitory events displaying PIR for temporally brief inputs. Our result stresses the importance of the timing of the prespike input events rather than postspike [23,24] or the diffusion process response [25] of the membrane. NIH Public Access

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“…Impulses to measure (b) the summation of the first, second, and third terms, (c) the summation of the first and second terms, and (d) the first term in Eq. (59). The firing rate during I 4 needs to be measured by repeatedly adding the impulses to the neuron with a recovery period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Global dynamics of a stochastic neuronal oscillator

Yamanobe

2013

Phys. Rev. E

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Nonlinear oscillators have been used to model neurons that fire periodically in the absence of input. These oscillators, which are called neuronal oscillators, share some common response structures with other biological oscillations such as cardiac cells. In this study, we analyze the dependence of the global dynamics of an impulse-driven stochastic neuronal oscillator on the relaxation rate to the limit cycle, the strength of the intrinsic noise, and the impulsive input parameters. To do this, we use a Markov operator that both reflects the density evolution of the oscillator and is an extension of the phase transition curve, which describes the phase shift due to a single isolated impulse. Previously, we derived the Markov operator for the finite relaxation rate that describes the dynamics of the entire phase plane. Here, we construct a Markov operator for the infinite relaxation rate that describes the stochastic dynamics restricted to the limit cycle. In both cases, the response of the stochastic neuronal oscillator to time-varying impulses is described by a product of Markov operators. Furthermore, we calculate the number of spikes between two consecutive impulses to relate the dynamics of the oscillator to the number of spikes per unit time and the interspike interval density. Specifically, we analyze the dynamics of the number of spikes per unit time based on the properties of the Markov operators. Each Markov operator can be decomposed into stationary and transient components based on the properties of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions. This allows us to evaluate the difference in the number of spikes per unit time between the stationary and transient responses of the oscillator, which we show to be based on the dependence of the oscillator on past activity. Our analysis shows how the duration of the past neuronal activity depends on the relaxation rate, the noise strength, and the impulsive input parameters.

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Pacemaker Neurons: Effects of Regularly Spaced Synaptic Input

Cited by 281 publications

References 2 publications

Synchronous Rhythmic Flashing of Fireflies. II.

Synchronous Rhythmic Flashing of Fireflies. II.

Enhanced neuronal response induced by fast inhibition

Global dynamics of a stochastic neuronal oscillator

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