Cited by 298Neural dynamics and brain functionNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Researchstochastic dynamics and bifurcation

Barrages of Synaptic Activity Control the Gain and Sensitivity of Cortical Neurons

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Shu, Yousheng, Hasenstaub, Andrea, Badoual, Mathilde, Bal, Thierry, McCormick, David A.·2003·The Journal of Neuroscience

Abstract

Ongoing synaptic activity, ever present in cortical neurons, may vary widely in its amplitude and characteristics, potentially having a strong influence on neuronal processing. Intracellular recordings in layer 5 pyramidal cells in prefrontal and visual cortical slices maintained in vitro revealed spontaneous periods of synaptic bombardment. Testing the responsiveness of these cortical cells to synaptic inputs or the injection of artificial excitatory postsynaptic conductances of various amplitudes revealed that background synaptic activity dramatically increased the probability of response to small inputs, decreased the slope of the input-output curve, and decreased both the latency and jitter of action potential activation. Examining the effects of different components of synaptic barrages (namely, depolarization, increase in membrane conductance, and increase in membrane potential variance) revealed that the effects observed were dominated by the membrane depolarization and increase in variance. Depolarization increased the peak cross-correlation between injected complex in vivo-like waveforms through enhancement of responsiveness to small inputs, whereas increases in variance did so through a shift in firing mode from one of threshold detection to probabilistic discharge. These results indicate that rapid increases in neuronal responsiveness, as well as increases in spike timing precision, can be achieved through balanced barrages of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic activity.

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Crossref · 10.1523/jneurosci.23-32-10388.2003

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  • Changes in the level of synaptically driven fluctuations in membrane potential may regulate the gain of the I/O curve for individual neurons.

    “Changes in the level of synaptically driven fluctuations in Vm (also called synaptic fluctuations or synaptic noise) may regulate the gain of the I/O curve for individual neurons57–60 (but see REF.61).”

    From Mechanisms underlying gain modulation in the cortex (2020) · cites this paper as [60]

  • Temporally coincident changes in conductance state and synaptic fluctuations exert a powerful effect on neuronal gain at the single-cell level.

    “Together, temporally coincident changes in conductance state and synaptic fluctuations exert a powerful effect on neuronal gain at the single-cell level57,58,60,61,83,84.”

    From Mechanisms underlying gain modulation in the cortex (2020) · cites this paper as [60]

  • Unlike synaptically driven Vm fluctuations, changes in membrane conductance and depolarization cause lateral, or additive, shifts in the I/O transfer function of a neuron without changes in neuronal gain.

    “Unlike synaptically driven Vm fluctuations, changes in membrane conductance and depolarization cause lateral, or additive, shifts in the I/O transfer function of a neuron without changes in neuronal gain57,58,60,61,83,84.”

    From Mechanisms underlying gain modulation in the cortex (2020) · cites this paper as [60]

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1 of the 51 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. Abeles M (1991) Corticonics: neural circuits of the cerebral cortex. Cam- bridge, UK: Cambridge UP.

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Authors
Shu, Y., Hasenstaub, A., Badoual, M., Bal, T., & McCormick, D. A.
Affiliations
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
Venue
The Journal of Neuroscience
Published
2003-11-12
Volume
23
Issue
32
Pages
10388-10401
ISSN
  • 0270-6474 (ISSN-L)
  • 1529-2401
OpenAlex
W1955923252
Cited by
298
References
51
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 12 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 15 · 2014: 12 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 11
FWCI
7.34
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Journal of Neuroscience (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • HAL (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • European Commission (IST-2001-34712)
  • Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
  • National Institutes of Health
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
cortical neurons, layer 5 pyramidal cells, prefrontal cortex, visual cortex, neuronal gain, neuronal sensitivity, input-output curves, membrane depolarization, spike timing precision, threshold detection, excitation-inhibition balance, spontaneous synaptic activity
MeSH terms
Action Potentials, Animals, Cerebral Cortex, Electric Stimulation, Ferrets, Nerve Net, Synaptic Transmission, Neurons, Occipital Lobe, Reaction Time, Sensory Thresholds, Prefrontal Cortex, Patch-Clamp Techniques, Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials, In Vitro Techniques

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