title: Onset dynamics of action potentials in rat neocortical neurons and identified snail neurons: quantification of the difference.
abstract: The generation of action potentials (APs) is a key process in the operation of nerve cells and the communication between neurons. Action potentials in mammalian central neurons are characterized by an exceptionally fast onset dynamics, which differs from the typically slow and gradual onset dynamics seen in identified snail neurons. Here we describe a novel method of analysis which provides a quantitative measure of the onset dynamics of action potentials. This method captures the difference between the fast, step-like onset of APs in rat neocortical neurons and the gradual, exponential-like AP onset in identified snail neurons. The quantitative measure of the AP onset dynamics, provided by the method, allows us to perform quantitative analyses of factors influencing the dynamics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Phychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, United States of America. maxim.volgushev@uconn.edu
authors.forename: Maxim
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Volgushev
authors.forename: Aleksey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malyshev
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Balaban
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chistiakova
authors.forename: Stanislav
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Volgushev
authors.forename: Fred
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wolf
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials; D000818:Animals; D004594:Electrophysiology; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D008954:Models, Biological; D008959:Models, Neurological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D019579:Neocortex / Q000378:metabolism*; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D051381:Rats; D012908:Snails; D013045:Species Specificity; D009435:Synaptic Transmission