Network model of spontaneous activity exhibiting synchronous transitions between up and down states
- Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Kolb Research Annex, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University New York, USA
Both in vivo and in vitro recordings indicate that neuronal membrane potentials can make spontaneous transitions between distinct up and down states. At the network level, populations of neurons have been observed to make these transitions synchronously. Although synaptic activity and intrinsic neuron properties play an important role, the precise nature of the processes responsible for these phenomena is not known. Using a computational model, we explore the interplay between intrinsic neuronal properties and synaptic fluctuations. Model neurons of the integrate-and-fire type were extended by adding a nonlinear membrane current. Networks of these neurons exhibit large amplitude synchronous spontaneous fluctuations that make the neurons jump between up and down states, thereby producing bimodal membrane potential distributions. The effect of sensory stimulation on network responses depends on whether the stimulus is applied during an up state or deeply inside a down state. External noise can be varied to modulate the network continuously between two extreme regimes in which it remains permanently in either the up or the down state.
Keywords:
neuronal modeling, cortical dynamics, cortical network, up-down state transitions
Citation:
Néstor Parga and Larry F. Abbott (2007). Network model of spontaneous activity exhibiting synchronous transitions between up and down states. Front. Neurosci. 1: 1. 57-66. doi: 10.3389/neuro.01/1.1.004.2007
Received: 15 August 2007; Paper pending published: 01 September 2007;
Accepted: 01 September 2007;
Published online: 15 October 2007.
Edited by:
Idan Segev, Hebrew University, Israel
Reviewed by:
Misha Tsodyks, Department of Neurobiology, Weizman Institute of Science, Israel; Albert Compte, Instituto de Neurociencias, University Miguel Hernandez, Spain
Copyright:
© 2007 Parga and Abbott. This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
*Correspondence:
Center for Neurobiology and Behavior, Kolb Research Annex, Rm 759, 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032, USA. e-mail: lfa2103@columbia.edu