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Related Concept Videos

The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation

The Role of Ion Channels in Neuronal Computation

A postsynaptic neuron usually receives numerous impulses from several other presynaptic neurons. The axon hillock of the postsynaptic neuron integrates all these signals and determines the likelihood of firing an action potential.
Sometimes a single EPSP is strong enough to induce an action potential in the postsynaptic neuron. However, multiple presynaptic inputs must often create EPSPs around the same time for the postsynaptic neuron to be sufficiently depolarized to fire an action potential.

Auditory Pathway

Auditory Pathway

Auditory pathways constitute the complex neural circuits responsible for transmitting and interpreting auditory information from the peripheral auditory system to the brain. Sound waves are initially captured by the outer ear, funneled through the ear canal, and reach the tympanic membrane (eardrum). These vibrations are transmitted via the middle ear's ossicles to the inner ear's cochlea.
When viewed cross-sectionally, the cochlea reveals the scala vestibuli and scala tympani flanking the...

Hair Cells

Hair Cells

Hair cells are the sensory receptors of the auditory system—they transduce mechanical sound waves into electrical energy that the nervous system can understand. Hair cells are located in the organ of Corti within the cochlea of the inner ear, between the basilar and tectorial membranes. The actual sensory receptors are called inner hair cells. The outer hair cells serve other functions, such as sound amplification in the cochlea, and are not discussed in detail here.

Hearing

Hearing

When we hear a sound, our nervous system is detecting sound waves—pressure waves of mechanical energy traveling through a medium. The frequency of the wave is perceived as pitch, while the amplitude is perceived as loudness.

The Cochlea

The Cochlea

The cochlea is a coiled structure in the inner ear that contains hair cells—the sensory receptors of the auditory system. Sound waves are transmitted to the cochlea by small bones attached to the eardrum called the ossicles, which vibrate the oval window that leads to the inner ear. This causes fluid in the chambers of the cochlea to move, vibrating the basilar membrane.

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Calcium-dependent control of temporal processing in an auditory interneuron: a computational analysis.

Abhilash Ponnath¹, Hamilton E Farris

¹Center for Neuroscience and Kresge Hearing Laboratories, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, 2020 Gravier St., New Orleans, LA 70119, USA.

Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology

|June 19, 2010

Summary

Cricket auditory neurons show varied sensitivity to sound modulation. Computational models reveal that calcium dynamics, not special mechanisms, explain these differences in amplitude modulation sensitivity across species and frequencies.

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Simultaneous Electrophysiological Recording and Calcium Imaging of Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Neurons

Simultaneous Electrophysiological Recording and Calcium Imaging of Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Neurons

Published on: December 8, 2013

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Computational Biology
Bioacoustics

Background:

Acoustic amplitude modulation (AM) sensitivity in crickets varies by species and carrier frequency.
Selective attention mechanisms, particularly calcium (Ca2+)-dependent processes, are implicated in auditory processing.

Purpose of the Study:

To computationally explore how Ca2+-dependent mechanisms in omega neuron 1 (ON1) contribute to differences in AM sensitivity.
To investigate the role of Ca2+ removal rate and after-hyperpolarizing current size in shaping ON1's temporal modulation transfer function (TMTF).

Main Methods:

Utilized a conductance-based computational model of ON1, calibrated with in vivo responses.
Simulated responses to both single pulses and modulated auditory stimuli.

Main Results:

Model parameters for single-pulse responses adequately predicted responses to modulated stimuli, indicating no need for specialized modulation-sensitive mechanisms.
Ca2+-dependent spike frequency adaptation and postsynaptic potential depression were identified as key determinants of the TMTF's high-pass and low-pass characteristics, respectively.
Variations in Ca2+ removal rate and after-hyperpolarizing current size were sufficient to generate diverse TMTFs, mimicking species- and frequency-dependent AM sensitivity.

Conclusions:

The study computationally validates the hypothesis that Ca2+ dynamics, specifically the after-hyperpolarizing current and Ca2+ removal rate, are critical determinants of AM sensitivity in cricket auditory neurons.
These intrinsic biophysical properties, rather than specialized neural circuits, can account for observed variations in auditory processing across different cricket species and carrier frequencies.