Possible roles of electrical synapse in temporal information processing: A computational study

Temporal information processing in the range of tens to hundreds of milliseconds is critical in many forms of sensory and motor tasks. However, little has been known about the neural mechanisms of temporal information processing. Experimental observations indicate that sensory neurons of the nervous system do not show selective response to temporal properties of external stimuli. On the other hand, temporal selective neurons in the cortex have been reported in many species. Thus, processes which realize the temporal-to-spatial transformation of neuronal activities might be required for temporal information processing. In the present study, we propose a computational model to explore possible roles of electrical synapses in processing the duration of external stimuli. Firstly, we construct a small-scale network with neurons interconnected by electrical synapses in addition to chemical synapses. Basic properties of this small-scale neural network in processing duration information are analyzed. Secondly, a large-scale neural network which is more biologically realistic is further explored. Our results suggest that neural networks with electrical synapses functioning together with chemical synapses can effectively work for the temporal-to-spatial transformation of neuronal activities, and the spatially distributed sequential neural activities can potentially represent temporal information.

GABA_A Receptor Activity Suppresses the Transition from Interictal to Ictal Epileptiform Discharges in Juvenile Mouse Hippocampus

Exploring the transition from inter-ictal to ictal epileptiform discharges(IDs) and how GABAAreceptormediated action affects the onset of IDs will enrich our understanding of epileptogenesis and epilepsy treatment.We used Mg2+-free artificial cerebrospinal fluid(ACSF) to induce epileptiform discharges in juvenile mouse hippocampal slices and used a micro-electrode array to record the discharges. After the slices were exposed to Mg2+-free ACSF for 10 min–20 min, synchronous recurrent seizurelike events were recorded across the slices, and each event evolved from inter-ictal epileptiform discharges(IIDs) to pre-ictal epileptiform discharges(PIDs), and then to IDs.During the transition from IIDs to PIDs, the duration of discharges increased and the inter-discharge interval decreased. After adding 3 lmol/L of the GABAAreceptor agonist muscimol, PIDs and IDs disappeared, and IIDs remained. Further, the application of 10 lmol/L muscimol abolished all the epileptiform discharges. When the GABAAreceptor antagonist bicuculline was applied at 10 lmol/L, IIDs and PIDs disappeared, and IDs remained at decreased intervals. These results indicated that there are dynamic changes in the hippocampal network preceding the onset of IDs, and GABAAreceptor activity suppresses the transition from IIDs to IDs in juvenile mouse hippocampus.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of high-K^+-induced epileptiform discharges in hippocampal slice and the effects of valproate

The epileptic seizure is a dynamic process involving a rapid transition from normal activity to a state of hypersynchronous neuronal discharges. Here we investigated the network properties of epileptiform discharges in hippocampal slices in the presence of high K ＋ concentration （8.5 mmol/L） in the bath, and the effects of the anti-epileptic drug valproate （VPA） on epileptiform discharges, using a microelectrode array. We demonstrated that epileptiform discharges were predominantly initiated from the stratum pyramidale layer of CA3a-b and propagated bi-directionally to CA1 and CA3c. Disconnection of CA3 from CA1 abolished the discharges in CA1 without disrupting the initiation of discharges in CA3. Further pharmacological experiments showed that VPA at a clinically relevant concentration （100 μmol/L） suppressed the propagation speed but not the rate or duration of high-K＋-induced discharges. Our findings suggest that pacemakers exist in the CA3a-b region for the generation of epileptiform discharges in the hippocampus. VPA reduces the conduction of such discharges in the network by reducing the propagation speed.

Spikes with short inter-spike intervals in frog retinal ganglion cells are more correlated with their adjacent neurons’activities

Correlated firings among neurons have been extensively investigated;however,previous studies on retinal ganglion cell(RGC)population activities were mainly based on analyzing the correlated activities between the entire spike trains.In the present study,the correlation properties were explored based on burst-like activities and solitary spikes separately.The results indicate that:(1)burst-like activities were more correlated with other neurons’activities;(2)burst-like spikes correlated with their neighboring neurons represented a smaller receptive field than that of correlated solitary spikes.These results suggest that correlated burst-like spikes should be more efficient in signal transmission,and could encode more detailed spatial information.

Stimulus discrimination via responses of retinal ganglion cells and dopamine-dependent modulation

Neighboring retinal ganglion cells（RGCs）fire with a high degree of correlation.It has been increasingly realized that visual perception of the environment relies on neuronal population activity to encode and transmit the information contained in stimuli.Understanding how neuronal population activity contributes to visual information processing is essential for understanding the mechanisms of visual coding.Here we simultaneously recorded spike discharges from groups of RGCs in bullfrog retina in response to visual patterns（checkerboard,horizontal grating,and full-field illumination）using a multi-electrode array system.To determine the role of synchronous activity mediated by gap junctions,we measured the correct classification rates of single cells＇firing patterns as well as the synchronization patterns of multiple neurons.We found that,under normal conditions,RGC population activity exhibited distinct response features with exposure to different stimulus patterns and had a higher rate of correct stimulus discrimination than the activity of single cells.Dopamine（1μmol/L）application did not significantly change the performance of single neuron activity,but enhanced the synchronization of the RGC population activity and decreased the rate of correct stimulus pattern discrimination.These findings suggest that the synchronous activity of RGCs plays an important role in the information coding of different types of visual patterns,and a dopamine-induced increase in synchronous activity weakens the population performance in pattern discrimination,indicating the potential role of the dopaminergic pathway in modulating the population coding process.