Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Detectability Of Excitatory Versus Inhibitory Drive In An Integrate-And-Fire-Or-Burst Thalamocortical Relay Neuron Model, Gregory D. Smith, S. M. Sherman

Arts & Sciences Articles

Although inhibitory inputs are often viewed as equal but opposite to excitatory inputs, excitatory inputs may alter the firing of postsynaptic cells more effectively than inhibitory inputs. This is because spike cancellation produced by an inhibitory input requires coincidence in time, whereas an excitatory input can add spikes with less temporal constraint. To test for such potential differences, especially in the context of the function of thalamocortical (TC) relay nuclei, we used a stochastic “integrate-and-fire-or-burst” TC neuron model to quantify the detectability of excitatory and inhibitory drive in the presence and absence of the low-threshold Ca 2+ current, IT, and …