Dynamics of neurons with voltage-activated and calcium-activated currents

Magnus Richardson

University of Warwick, UK


The profile of transmembrane-channel expression in neurons is class dependent and a crucial determinant of neuronal dynamics. A generalization of the experimentally verified exponential integrate-and-fire model is introduced that includes biophysical, nonlinear gated conductance-based currents, and a spike shape. A Fokker-Planck-based method is developed that allows for the rapid numerical calculation of steady-state and linear-response properties for recurrent networks of neurons with gating-variable dynamics slower than that of the voltage. This limit includes many cases of biological interest, particularly under in-vivo conditions of high synaptic conductance. The framework generalizes to networks comprised of different neuronal classes and so will allow for the modeling of emergent states in neural tissue at significantly increased levels of biological detail.

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