Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Induction of an Isoelectric Brain State to Investigate the Impact of Endogenous Synaptic Activity on Neuronal Excitability In Vivo
Published on: March 31, 2016
A new mechanism for neuronal gain control (or how the gain in brains has mainly been explained)
Nicholas J Priebe1, David Ferster
1Department of Neurobiology and Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60202, USA.
Abstract:
One of the more prosaic but necessary features of almost any information processing system is gain control. All such systems must have some way to adjust the relationship between input, which can vary dramatically depending on changes in the environment, and output, which is almost always required to remain within a limited range of amplitudes. While the volume control on a radio or the brightness control on a computer monitor are not the most exciting or highly touted features, imagine such devices without these forms of gain control. Many an engineer can attest to the large effort required to design automatic gain controls in telephones, cameras, and radio transmitters.
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