Fast calculation of short-term depressing synaptic conductances.
An efficient implementation of synaptic transmission models in realistic network simulations is an important theme of computational neuroscience. The amount of CPU time required to simulate synaptic interactions can increase as the square of the number of units of such networks, depending on the connectivity convergence. As a consequence, any realistic description of synaptic phenomena, incorporating biophysical details, is computationally highly demanding. We present a consolidating algorithm based on a biophysical extended model of ligand-gated postsynaptic channels, describing short-term plasticity such as synaptic depression. The considerable speed-up of simulation times makes this algorithm suitable for investigating emergent collective effects of short-term depression in large-scale networks of model neurons.
Giugliano
M
M
Department of Biophysical and Electronic Engineering, Bioelectronics and Neurobioengineering Group, Universita degli Studi de Genova, Via Opera Pia 11A, Genova I-16145 Italy. michi@dibe.unige.it
Bove
M
M
Grattarola
M
M
D000465:Algorithms; D003198:Computer Simulation; D008959:Models, Neurological; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors