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A Model Study of Cellular Short-Term Memory Produced by Slowly Inactivating Potassium Conductances

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Abstract

We analyzed the cellular short-term memory effects induced by a slowly inactivating potassium (Ks) conductance using a biophysical model of a neuron. We first described latency-to-first-spike and temporal changes in firing frequency as a function of parameters of the model, injected current and prior history of the neuron (deinactivation level) under current clamp. This provided a complete set of properties describing the Ks conductance in a neuron. We then showed that the action of the Ks conductance is not generally appropriate for controlling latency-to-first-spike under random synaptic stimulation. However, reliable latencies were found when neuronal population computation was used. Ks inactivation was found to control the rate of convergence to steady-state discharge behavior and to allow frequency to increase at variable rates in sets of synaptically connected neurons. These results suggest that inactivation of the Ks conductance can have a reliable influence on the behavior of neuronal populations under real physiological conditions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INSERM U483, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 9, quai Saint-Bernard, 75005, Paris, France

    B. Delord, P. Baraduc, R. Costalat & Y. Burnod

  2. INSERM U483, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, 9, quai Saint-Bernard, 75005, Paris, France

    E. Guigon

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Delord, B., Baraduc, P., Costalat, R. et al. A Model Study of Cellular Short-Term Memory Produced by Slowly Inactivating Potassium Conductances. J Comput Neurosci 8, 251–273 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008902110844

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