title: Information processing in noisy burster models of sensory neurons.
abstract: Processing of external stimuli by sensory neurons often involves bursting, when epochs of fast firing alternate with intervals of quiescence. In particular, sensory neurons of electroreceptors in paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) undergo bursting when stimulated externally with broad-band noise, but otherwise fire spontaneously in a quasiperiodic tonic manner. We use a simple phenomenological model for noise-induced bursting to quantify analytically, by means of the Kullback entropy and Fisher information, the gain in information transfer and electroreceptor sensitivity for external noisy stimuli. A good agreement between theoretical predictions, numerical simulations and experimental data is shown.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physics, Humboldt-University Berlin, Newtonstr. 15, D-12489 Berlin, Germany. liepelt@mpikg-golm.mpg.de
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liepelt
authors.forename: Jan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Freund
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Schimansky-Geier
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Neiman
authors.forename: David F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Russell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D004555:Electric Fish / Q000502:physiology*; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D011984:Sensory Receptor Cells / Q000502:physiology; D012684:Sensory Thresholds; D013269:Stochastic Processes