An influence of afterhyperpolarization on the pattern of motoneuronal rhythmic activity

Motoneuronal spike trains were generated according to a simple model assuming algebraical summation of the afterhyperpolarization (AHP) curve and noisy synaptic inflow. An influence of various model parameters on the relationship between standard deviation (SD), sigma, of interspike intervals (ISIs) and their mean value, Tm, was studied. A typical sigma(Tm) relationship resembled those obtained experimentally and consisted of two parts: a short-interval part with constant sigma and a long-interval part where sigma increased linearly with increasing ISI. It is concluded that the placement of the range of transition between short- and long-interval parts of the plot depends on the properties of the motoneuron and not on those of the synaptic inflow. The break-point interval of the plot is correlated with the AHP duration but is shorter than it. Further, not only are the curves for shorter AHP durations shifted towards shorter ISIs, but they also have lower SDs at their short-interval parts.