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Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Real-time Electrophysiology: Using Closed-loop Protocols to Probe Neuronal Dynamics and Beyond
Published on: June 24, 2015
Study of neuronal gain in a conductance-based leaky integrate-and-fire neuron model with balanced excitatory and
A N Burkitt1, H Meffin, D B Grayden
1The Bionic Ear Institute, 384-388 Albert Street, East Melbourne, Vic 3002, Australia. a.burkitt@medoto.unimelb.edu.au
Abstract:
Neurons receive a continual stream of excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. A conductance-based neuron model is used to investigate how the balanced component of this input modulates the amplitude of neuronal responses. The output spiking rate is well described by a formula involving three parameters: the mean mu and variance sigma of the membrane potential and the effective membrane time constant tauQ. This expression shows that, for sufficiently small tauQ, the level of balanced excitatory-inhibitory input has a nonlinear modulatory effect on the neuronal gain.
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