title: Deterministic neural dynamics transmitted through neural networks.
abstract: Precise spatiotemporal sequences of neuronal discharges (i.e., intervals between epochs repeating more often than expected by chance), have been observed in a large set of experimental electrophysiological recordings. Sensitivity to temporal information, by itself, does not demonstrate that dynamics embedded in spike trains can be transmitted through a neural network. This study analyzes how synaptic transmission through three archetypical types of neurons (regular-spiking, thalamo-cortical and resonator), simulated by a simple spiking model, can affect the transmission of precise timings generated by a nonlinear deterministic system (i.e., the Zaslavskii mapping in the present study). The results show that cells with subthreshold oscillations (resonators) are very sensitive to stochastic inputs, and are not a good candidate for transmitting temporally coded information. Thalamo-cortical neurons may transmit very well temporal patterns in the absence of background activity, but jitter accumulates along the synaptic chain. Conversely, we observed that cortical regular-spiking neurons can propagate filtered temporal information in a reliable way through the network, and with high temporal accuracy. We discuss the results in the general framework of neural dynamics and brain theories.
authors.affiliation: The Center for Advanced Medical Engineering and Informatics, Osaka University, Toyonaka Osaka, Japan. asai@bpe.es.osaka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Yoshiyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asai
authors.forename: Apratim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guha
authors.forename: Alessandro E P
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Villa
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000166:cytology; D013997:Time Factors