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Spatio-temporal filtering properties of a dendritic cable with active spines: A modeling study in the spike-diffuse-spike framework

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Abstract

The spike-diffuse-spike (SDS) model describes a passive dendritic tree with active dendritic spines. Spine-head dynamics is modeled with a simple integrate-and-fire process, whilst communication between spines is mediated by the cable equation. In this paper we develop a computational framework that allows the study of multiple spiking events in a network of such spines embedded on a simple one-dimensional cable. In the first instance this system is shown to support saltatory waves with the same qualitative features as those observed in a model with Hodgkin-Huxley kinetics in the spine-head. Moreover, there is excellent agreement with the analytically calculated speed for a solitary saltatory pulse. Upon driving the system with time-varying external input we find that the distribution of spines can play a crucial role in determining spatio-temporal filtering properties. In particular, the SDS model in response to periodic pulse train shows a positive correlation between spine density and low-pass temporal filtering that is consistent with the experimental results of Rose and Fortune [1999, ‘Mechanisms for generating temporal filters in the electrosensory system,’ The Journal of Experimental Biology 202: 1281–1289]. Further, we demonstrate the robustness of observed wave properties to natural sources of noise that arise both in the cable and the spine-head, and highlight the possibility of purely noise induced waves and coherent oscillations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK

    Yulia Timofeeva & Gabriel J. Lord

  2. School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

    Stephen Coombes

Authors
  1. Yulia Timofeeva
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  2. Gabriel J. Lord
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  3. Stephen Coombes
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Correspondence to Yulia Timofeeva.

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Action Editor: Erik De Schutter

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Timofeeva, Y., Lord, G.J. & Coombes, S. Spatio-temporal filtering properties of a dendritic cable with active spines: A modeling study in the spike-diffuse-spike framework. J Comput Neurosci 21, 293–306 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10827-006-8776-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10827-006-8776-4

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