title: The Morris-Lecar neuron model embeds a leaky integrate-and-fire model.
abstract: We show that the stochastic Morris-Lecar neuron, in a neighborhood of its stable point, can be approximated by a two-dimensional Ornstein-Uhlenbeck (OU) modulation of a constant circular motion. The associated radial OU process is an example of a leaky integrate-and-fire (LIF) model prior to firing. A new model constructed from a radial OU process together with a simple firing mechanism based on detailed Morris-Lecar firing statistics reproduces the Morris-Lecar Interspike Interval (ISI) distribution, and has the computational advantages of a LIF. The result justifies the large amount of attention paid to the LIF models.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 5, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark. susanne@math.ku.dk
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ditlevsen
authors.forename: Priscilla
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Greenwood
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D009716:Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted; D013269:Stochastic Processes