|
| |
|
|
|
|
||||
| Home Help Feedback Subscriptions Archive Search Table of Contents | ||||
Sensitivity Of Neurones In Aplysia to Temporal Pattern of Arriving Impulses
1 Brain Research Institute and Departments of Anatomy, Physiology and Zoology, University of California Los Angeles
1. Experiments were carried out on the isolated ganglia of Aplysia californica to discover whether the precise timing (i.e. the interspike interval distribution and sequence) of a group of spikes entering a neuronal system at a given mean frequency constitutes a variable that is significant in the control of its output.
2. The input consisted of stimulation bursts with different timings but identical mean frequencies applied to one or more afferent trunks. The output (EPSPs or spikes) was monitored with an intracellular micro-electrode placed in the giant cell.
3. Changes in the timing of the input produce definite changes in the magnitude of the output, both in terms of depolarization induced and of spikes evoked. Because of the critical nature of the spike firing threshold, a consistent small increment in depolarization due to favourable timing can be functionally important in the vicinity of the firing level. The following properties contribute to timing-dependence: (i) Temporal summation of successive EPSPs. (ii) Interaction. Each EPSP is characteristically augmented or, more frequently, decreased by those preceding it; linear summation is a special case. The modification in general cannot be predicted from the excitability cycle after one EPSP; interactions between EPSPs of different origins are often irreciprocal; sequence of heterologous inputs is influential. (iii) Post-spike excitability. Responsiveness changes which follow a post-synaptic spike depend on whether it A preceded by others, on their number and timing.
4. Nerve cells were thus found to exhibit a sensitivity to timing that issued from elementary functional attributes. Such sensitivity to timing would be biologically advantageous, especially in areas of sensory convergence, for it provides an additional coding parameter complementing mean frequency modulation. It is still too early to decide whether or not this mechanism is actually important in natural operation, though it appears likely.
Note:
Supported by a Senior Research Fellowship (J. P. S.) from the National Institutes of Health and by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Office of Naval Research. Published in abstract form by J. P. Segundo & L. J. Stensaas (1962), Fed. Proc. 21, 356.
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  C. R. Butson and G. A. Clark Mechanisms of Noise-Induced Improvement in Light-Intensity Encoding in Hermissenda Photoreceptor Network J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2008; 99(1): 155 - 165. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. Tripp and C. Eliasmith Neural Populations Can Induce Reliable Postsynaptic Currents without Observable Spike Rate Changes or Precise Spike Timing Cereb Cortex, August 1, 2007; 17(8): 1830 - 1840. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. L. Kimmel and T. Moore Temporal Patterning of Saccadic Eye Movement Signals J. Neurosci., July 18, 2007; 27(29): 7619 - 7630. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. H. Higgs, S. J. Slee, and W. J. Spain Diversity of gain modulation by noise in neocortical neurons: regulation by the slow afterhyperpolarization conductance. J. Neurosci., August 23, 2006; 26(34): 8787 - 8799. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 M. Stiber Spike Timing Precision and Neural Error Correction: Local Behavior Neural Comput., July 1, 2005; 17(7): 1577 - 1601. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
L. A. Grande, G. A. Kinney, G. L. Miracle, and W. J. Spain Dynamic Influences on Coincidence Detection in Neocortical Pyramidal Neurons J. Neurosci., February 25, 2004; 24(8): 1839 - 1851. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Prut and S. I. Perlmutter Firing Properties of Spinal Interneurons during Voluntary Movement. I. State-Dependent Regularity of Firing J. Neurosci., October 22, 2003; 23(29): 9600 - 9610. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
T. H. Bullock Have Brain Dynamics Evolved? Should We Look for Unique Dynamics in the Sapient Species? Neural Comput., September 1, 2003; 15(9): 2013 - 2027. [Abstract] [Full Text]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. D. Hunter and J. G. Milton Amplitude and Frequency Dependence of Spike Timing: Implications for Dynamic Regulation J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2003; 90(1): 387 - 394. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
E. Y. Chang, K. F. Morris, R. Shannon, and B. G. Lindsey Repeated Sequences of Interspike Intervals in Baroresponsive Respiratory Related Neuronal Assemblies of the Cat Brain Stem J Neurophysiol, September 1, 2000; 84(3): 1136 - 1148. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. S. Reich, F. Mechler, K. P. Purpura, and J. D. Victor Interspike Intervals, Receptive Fields, and Information Encoding in Primary Visual Cortex J. Neurosci., March 1, 2000; 20(5): 1964 - 1974. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J. S. Dittman, A. C. Kreitzer, and W. G. Regehr Interplay between Facilitation, Depression, and Residual Calcium at Three Presynaptic Terminals J. Neurosci., February 15, 2000; 20(4): 1374 - 1385. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. V. Buonomano, P. W. Hickmott, and M. M. Merzenich Context-sensitive synaptic plasticity and temporal-to-spatial transformations in hippocampal slices PNAS, September 16, 1997; 94(19): 10403 - 10408. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. K. Hartline and I. M. Cooke Postsynaptic Membrane Response Predicted from Presynaptic Input Pattern in Lobster Cardiac Ganglion Science, May 30, 1969; 164(3883): 1080 - 1082. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. H. Perkel, J. H. Schulman, T. H. Bullock, G. P. Moore, and J. P. Segundo Pacemaker Neurons: Effects of Regularly Spaced Synaptic Input Science, July 3, 1964; 145(3627): 61 - 63. [Abstract] [PDF]
|
|
