Regulation of Cortical Dynamic Range by Background Synaptic Noise and Feedforward Inhibition
Open accessAbstract
The cortex encodes a broad range of inputs. This breadth of operation requires sensitivity to weak inputs yet non-saturating responses to strong inputs. If individual pyramidal neurons were to have a narrow dynamic range, as previously claimed, then staggered all-or-none recruitment of those neurons would be necessary for the population to achieve a broad dynamic range. Contrary to this explanation, we show here through dynamic clamp experiments in vitro and computer simulations that pyramidal neurons have a broad dynamic range under the noisy conditions that exist in the intact brain due to background synaptic input. Feedforward inhibition capitalizes on those noise effects to control neuronal gain and thereby regulates the population dynamic range. Importantly, noise allows neurons to be recruited gradually and occludes the staggered recruitment previously attributed to heterogeneous excitation. Feedforward inhibition protects spike timing against the disruptive effects of noise, meaning noise can enable the gain control required for rate coding without compromising the precise spike timing required for temporal coding.
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Under in vivo-like conditions with noisy background synaptic inputs, pyramidal neurons can exhibit a broad dynamic range of firing rates.
“Computational and in vitro dynamic clamp studies demonstrate that, under in vivo-like conditions with noisy background synaptic inputs, pyramidal neurons can exhibit a broad dynamic range of firing rates67.”
From Mechanisms underlying gain modulation in the cortex (2020) · cites this paper as [67]
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Mechanisms underlying gain modulation in the cortex
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- Authors
- Khubieh, A., Ratté, S., Lankarany, M., & Prescott, S. A.
- Affiliations
- Hospital for Sick Children (CA)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Khubieh, Ayah
- Venue
- Cerebral Cortex
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2015-07-24
- Volume
- 26
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 3357-3369
- ISSN
- 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-2199
- PMC
- PMC4961015
- OpenAlex
- W1762692232
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 55
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 2 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3
- FWCI
- 1.20
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RERO DOC (Universität Bern) (submittedVersion)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Infoscience (Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) (submittedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- NIH (R01 NS076706)
- the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research
- Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › stochastic dynamics and bifurcation
- Keywords
- feedforward inhibition, pyramidal neurons, rate coding, temporal coding, spike timing, neural recruitment, population coding, dynamic clamp
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cerebral Cortex, Computer Simulation, Male, Models, Neurological, Neural Inhibition, Synaptic Transmission, Synapses, Time Factors, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Pyramidal Cells, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Tissue Culture Techniques
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