Abstract
The linear cable equation with uniform Poisson or white noise input current is employed as a model for the voltage across the membrane of a onedimensional nerve cylinder, which may sometimes represent the dendritic tree of a nerve cell. From the Green's function representation of the solutions, the mean, variance and covariance of the voltage are found. At large times, the voltage becomes asymptotically wide-sense stationary and we find the spectral density functions for various cable lengths and boundary conditions. For large frequencies the voltage exhibits “1/f 3/2 noise”. Using the Fourier series representation of the voltage we study the moments of the firing times for the diffusion model with numerical techniques, employing a simplified threshold criterion. We also simulate the solution of the stochastic cable equation by two different methods in order to estimate the moments and density of the firing time.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Burns, B.D., Webb, A.C.: The spontaneous activity of neurones in the cat's cerebral cortex. Proc. R. Soc. London B194, 211–233 (1976)
Conradi, S.: On motoneuron synaptology in adult cats. Acta Physiol. Scand. Suppl.332, (1969)
Doob, J.L.: Stochastic processes. New York: Wiley 1953
Dwight, H.B.: Tables of integrals and other mathematical data. New York: Macmillan 1961
Dynkin, E.B.: Markov processes, Vol. II. Berlin, Heidelberg, New York: Springer 1965
Finger, W., Stettmeier, H.: Efficacy of the two-electrode voltage clamp technique in cryafish muscle. Pflügers Arch.387, 133–141 (1980)
Gradshteyn, I.S., Ryzhik, I.M.: Tables of integrals, series, and products. New York: Academic Press 1966
Hodgkin, A.L., Huxley, A.F.: A quantitative description of membrane current and its application to conduction and excitation in nerve. J. Physiol.117, 500–544 (1952)
Hodgkin, A.L., Rushton, W.A.H.: The electrical constrants of a crustacean nerve fibre. Proc. R. Soc. London B133, 444–479 (1946)
Holden, A.V., Yoda, M.: The effects of ionic channel density on neuronal function. J. Theor. Neurobiol.1, 60–81 (1981)
Hooge, F.N.: 1/f noise. Physica B83, 14–23 (1976)
Jack, J.J.B., Noble, D., Tsien, R.W.: Electric current flow in excitable cells. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1975
Jack, J.J.B., Redman, S.J., Wong, K.: The components of synaptic potentials evoked in cat spinal motoneurones by impulses in single group Ia afferents. J. Physiol.321, 65–96 (1981)
Koziol, J.A., Tuckwell, H.C.: Analysis and estimation of synaptic densities and their spatial variation on the motoneuron surface. Brain Res.17, 617–624 (1978)
Matsumoto, G., Shimizu, H.: Spatial coherence and formation of collectively-coupled local nonlinear oscillators in squid giant axons. J. Theor. Neurobiol.2, 29–46 (1983)
Rall, W.: Theory of physiological properties of dendrites. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci.96, 1071–1092 (1962)
Rall, W.: Theoretical significance of dendritic trees for neuronal input-output relations. In: Neural theory and modelling. Reiss, R.F. (ed.). Stanford: Stanford University Press 1964
Rall, W.: Core conductor theory and cable properties of neurons. In: Handbook of physiology, Sect. 1. The nervous system. I. Cellular biology of neurons. Kandel, E.R. (ed.). Am. Physiol. Soc. Bethesda (1977)
Tuckwell, H.C., Wan, F.Y.M., Wong, Y.S.: The interspike interval of a cable model neuron with white noise input. Biol. Cybern (in press, 1984)
Walsh, J.B.: A stochastic model of neuronal response. Adv. Appl. Prob.13, 231–281 (1981)
Walsh, J.B., Tuckwell, H.C.: Determination of the electrical potential over dendritic trees by mapping onto a nerve cylinder. I.A.M.S. Tech. Report. No. 83-8, Univ. of British Columbia, Vancouver 1983
Wan, F.Y.M., Tuckwell, H.C.: The response of a spatially distributed neuron to white noise current injection. Biol. Cybern.33, 36–59 (1979)
Wan, F.Y.M., Tuckwell, H.C.: Neuronal firing and input variability. J. Theor. Neurobiol.1, 197–218 (1982)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Tuckwell, H.C., Walsh, J.B. Random currents through nerve membranes. Biol. Cybernetics 49, 99–110 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00320390
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00320390