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Recording Gamma Band Oscillations in Pedunculopontine Nucleus Neurons
Published on: September 14, 2016
Toggling between gamma-frequency activity and suppression of cell assemblies
Christoph Börgers1, Bryan Walker
1Department of Mathematics, Tufts University Medford, MA, USA.
Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience
|April 19, 2013
Summary
The type of neuronal response (type 1 vs. type 2) significantly impacts brain rhythm stability. Type 2 responses in inhibitory cells prevent erratic fluctuations, promoting stable Pyramidal-Interneuronal Network Gamma (PING) brain rhythms.
Area of Science:
- Computational neuroscience
- Neural oscillations
- Mathematical modeling of neural networks
Background:
- Gamma rhythms (30-80 Hz) in the hippocampus and neocortex arise from interactions between excitatory (E) and inhibitory (I) cells, known as Pyramidal-Interneuronal Network Gamma (PING).
- PING requires I-cells to respond to E-cells without firing spontaneously, with a critical 'suppression boundary' separating stable PING from I-cell self-activation and E-cell suppression.
- Previous models often used I-cells with 'type 1' phase response, where excitation always advances firing.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate how the 'type 2' phase response, characteristic of fast-spiking inhibitory basket cells, affects the PING suppression transition.
- To analyze the impact of synchronous inhibitory cells, mediated by gap junctions, on neural rhythm dynamics.
- To compare the stability of PING under type 1 versus type 2 inhibitory cell responses.
Main Methods:
- Simulations of neural network models incorporating different inhibitory cell phase response types (type 1 vs. type 2).
- Analysis of the parameter space around the suppression boundary.
- Modeling of inhibitory cell synchrony via gap junctions.
Main Results:
- Type 1 inhibitory cell responses lead to erratic fluctuations in excitatory cell activity, with strong volleys followed by weak ones, due to advancing inhibition.
- Type 2 inhibitory cell responses, however, cause strong excitatory volleys to delay inhibition, leading to progressively stronger volleys.
- This type 2 response facilitates a more abrupt transition from PING to Interneuron Network Gamma (ING), characterized by stable excitatory drive.
Conclusions:
- The phase response type of inhibitory neurons is critical for the stability of gamma rhythms.
- Type 2 phase responses in inhibitory cells promote stable network activity and prevent the erratic fluctuations observed with type 1 responses.
- These findings highlight the importance of specific neuronal properties in shaping network dynamics and preventing pathological network states.
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