Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe

BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik

BP 13: Signaling, Biological Networks

BP 13.3: Vortrag

Mittwoch, 29. März 2023, 10:15–10:30, BAR 0106

How can a single neuron influence behavior? Hints from integrate-and-fire network models — •Davide Bernardi¹ and Benjamin Lindner^{2, 3} — ¹Italian Institute of Technology, Ferrara, Italy — ²Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany — ³Institut für Physik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Recent experiments challenge the established view that only large neuronal populations can reliably encode information, as is argued on the basis of the large noise and chaotic dynamics of cortical networks. One striking example is that awake rats can be trained to respond to the stimulation of a single cell in the barrel cortex. Here, this problem is framed theoretically by studying how the stimulation of a single neuron can be detected in large networks of integrate-and-fire neurons.

Combining numerical simulations and analytical calculations, we illustrate a simple strategy to detect the single neuron stimulation in the activity of a readout subpopulation or in a second network, which is both more realistic and more efficient. Furthermore, a readout network tuned to approximate a differentiator circuit can detect the single-neuron stimulation in a more biologically detailed model. In this case, the detection probability increases significantly upon injection of an irregular current, in agreement with experiments.

Our models show how inhibitory synapses could make it possible for the sensitivity to single-neuron perturbation to coexist with a stable asynchronous spontaneous activity, that is, through a mild selective imbalance in the topological (spatial) and temporal sense.