Dresden 2003 – scientific programme
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DY: Dynamik und Statistische Physik
DY 42: Synchronisation I
DY 42.2: Talk
Thursday, March 27, 2003, 11:15–11:30, G\"OR/226
Information processing in a noisy burster model — •Steffen Liepelt1, Jan A. Freund1, Alexander Neiman2, and David F. Russell2 — 1Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität Berlin — 2Center for Neurodynamics, University of Missouri at St. Louis
We consider the bursting activity of afferent neurons in a weak signal detection setup. An external stimulus effects the transition from a periodic spiking (tonic firing) pattern to bursts interspersed with intervals of quiescence. Under the assumption that the information about the stiumulus is encoded in the interspike interval (ISI) statistics we map the detection mechanism to the evaluation of a Kullback measure applied to ISI histograms (with and without stimulus). The question how a weak signal may be enhanced by an additional dynamical degree of freedom is investigated both numerically and by analytic methods based on a phenomenological model. The whole problem is motivated by experiments done with a paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) at the Center for Neurodynamics in St. Louis.