title: A simple biophysically plausible model for long time constants in single neurons.
abstract: Recent work in computational neuroscience and cognitive psychology suggests that a set of cells that decay exponentially could be used to support memory for the time at which events took place. Analytically and through simulations on a biophysical model of an individual neuron, we demonstrate that exponentially decaying firing with a range of time constants up to minutes could be implemented using a simple combination of well-known neural mechanisms. In particular, we consider firing supported by calcium-controlled cation current. When the amount of calcium leaving the cell during an interspike interval is larger than the calcium influx during a spike, the overall decay in calcium concentration can be exponential, resulting in exponential decay of the firing rate. The time constant of the decay can be several orders of magnitude larger than the time constant of calcium clearance, and it could be controlled externally via a variety of biologically plausible ways. The ability to flexibly and rapidly control time constants could enable working memory of temporal history to be generalized to other variables in computing spatial and ordinal representations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Center for Memory and Brain, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.
authors.forename: Zoran
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Tiganj
authors.forename: Michael E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Hasselmo
authors.forename: Marc W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Howard
mesh_terms: D055592:Biophysical Phenomena; D002118:Calcium / Q000378:metabolism*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D002118:Calcium
keywords: calcium-sensitive nonselective cation current; cholinergic modulation; exponentially decaying firing; persistent firing; working memory
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2012 Nov 20;109(47):19462-7
references.pmid: 23132944
references.citation: Neurosci Lett. 2000 Mar 24;282(3):157-60
references.pmid: 10717415
references.citation: Front Comput Neurosci. 2013 Jan 25;7:1
references.pmid: 23355821
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Gen. 2013 Nov;142(4):1211-30
references.pmid: 23915126
references.citation: Behav Brain Res. 2013 Oct 1;254:108-15
references.pmid: 23810207
references.citation: Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2009 Jul;92(1):53-62
references.pmid: 19185613
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2003 Jun 15;23(12):5342-53
references.pmid: 12832560
references.citation: Neuron. 1995 Mar;14(3):477-85
references.pmid: 7695894
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2003 Apr;13(2):204-11
references.pmid: 12744975
references.citation: Hippocampus. 2007;17(4):257-63
references.pmid: 17315198
references.citation: J Exp Psychol Anim Behav Process. 1989 Jan;15(1):23-35
references.pmid: 2926333
references.citation: J Physiol. 1984 Jul;352:173-88
references.pmid: 6747887
references.citation: Nature. 1988 Jan 7;331(6151):68-70
references.pmid: 3340148
references.citation: Science. 2008 Sep 5;321(5894):1322-7
references.pmid: 18772431
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1997 Apr;77(4):1813-28
references.pmid: 9114238
references.citation: Nature. 1996 Jul 25;382(6589):363-6
references.pmid: 8684467
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2012 Oct;15(10):1430-8
references.pmid: 22960934
references.citation: Hippocampus. 2012 Jun;22(6):1392-404
references.pmid: 21956787
references.citation: PLoS Comput Biol. 2012;8(4):e1002489
references.pmid: 22570601
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2014 Mar 26;34(13):4692-707
references.pmid: 24672015
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2005 Oct 5;25(40):9112-23
references.pmid: 16207870
references.citation: Trends Neurosci. 2001 Aug;24(8):455-63
references.pmid: 11476885
references.citation: Hippocampus. 2013 Sep;23(9):820-31
references.pmid: 23609880
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1991 Aug;66(2):635-50
references.pmid: 1663538
references.citation: Nat Neurosci. 2002 Nov;5(11):1217-25
references.pmid: 12368806
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1996 Jun 15;16(12):3848-61
references.pmid: 8656279
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1996 Aug 15;16(16):5154-67
references.pmid: 8756444
references.citation: Eur J Neurosci. 2006 Dec;24(11):3183-94
references.pmid: 17156379
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2002 Feb 1;22(3):1081-97
references.pmid: 11826137
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2011 Jun 22;31(25):9238-53
references.pmid: 21697374
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Nov 26;93(24):13473-80
references.pmid: 8942959
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2005 Oct 26;25(43):9968-77
references.pmid: 16251445
references.citation: Front Neural Circuits. 2012 Mar 15;6:10
references.pmid: 22435051
references.citation: Hippocampus. 2011 Apr;21(4):386-97
references.pmid: 20082292
references.citation: Curr Opin Neurobiol. 2004 Dec;14(6):675-84
references.pmid: 15582368
references.citation: Neuron. 2000 Jul;27(1):169-78
references.pmid: 10939340
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2008 Oct;100(4):2361-80
references.pmid: 18650312
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1988 Feb;59(2):450-67
references.pmid: 3351570
references.citation: Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2008 Apr;61(4):569-87
references.pmid: 18938276
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 1989 Feb;61(2):331-49
references.pmid: 2918358
references.citation: Nature. 2002 Nov 14;420(6912):173-8
references.pmid: 12432392
references.citation: Hippocampus. 1996;6(6):749-62
references.pmid: 9034860
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2009 Jun 24;29(25):8087-93
references.pmid: 19553448
references.citation: Neuron. 2000 Sep;27(3):623-33
references.pmid: 11055443
references.citation: Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2009 Jul 12;364(1525):1897-905
references.pmid: 19487192
references.citation: Neuron. 2013 Feb 20;77(4):736-49
references.pmid: 23439125
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2009 Apr 15;29(15):4945-52
references.pmid: 19369563
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2001 Oct;86(4):1792-802
references.pmid: 11600640
references.citation: Neurosci Lett. 2011 Jul 12;498(3):179-84
references.pmid: 21362457
references.citation: J Comput Neurosci. 2011 Apr;30(2):501-13
references.pmid: 20830512
references.citation: Cereb Cortex. 2000 Sep;10(9):910-23
references.pmid: 10982751
references.citation: Q J Exp Psychol (Hove). 2006 Nov;59(11):1875-908
references.pmid: 16987779
references.citation: Trends Cogn Sci. 2006 Nov;10(11):487-93
references.pmid: 17015030
references.citation: J Neurosci. 2009 Aug 5;29(31):9771-7
references.pmid: 19657030
references.citation: J Neurosci. 1993 Apr;13(4):1460-78
references.pmid: 8463829
references.citation: J Neurophysiol. 2008 Apr;99(4):2006-11
references.pmid: 18256167
references.citation: Neuron. 2011 Aug 25;71(4):737-49
references.pmid: 21867888
references.citation: J Comput Neurosci. 2011 Apr;30(2):489-99
references.pmid: 20827572
references.citation: Neural Comput. 2012 Jan;24(1):134-93
references.pmid: 21919782
references.citation: Neuron. 2007 Oct 4;56(1):141-54
references.pmid: 17920021
references.citation: Neuron. 2006 Mar 2;49(5):735-46
references.pmid: 16504948
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008 May 20;105(20):7298-303
references.pmid: 18474856