Effects of Neural Morphology and Input Distribution on Synaptic Processing by Global and Focal NMDA-Spikes.
Cortical neurons can respond to glutamatergic stimulation with regenerative N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA)-spikes. NMDA-spikes were initially thought to depend on clustered synaptic activation. Recent work had shown however a new variety of a global NMDA-spike, which can be generated by randomly di...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4604166?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1818060666867548160 |
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| author | Alon Poleg-Polsky |
| author_facet | Alon Poleg-Polsky |
| author_sort | Alon Poleg-Polsky |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Cortical neurons can respond to glutamatergic stimulation with regenerative N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA)-spikes. NMDA-spikes were initially thought to depend on clustered synaptic activation. Recent work had shown however a new variety of a global NMDA-spike, which can be generated by randomly distributed inputs. Very little is known about the factors that influence the generation of these global NMDA-spikes, as well the potentially distinct rules of synaptic integration and the computational significance conferred by the two types of NMDA-spikes. Here I show that the input resistance (RIN) plays a major role in influencing spike initiation; while the classical, focal NMDA-spike depended upon the local (dendritic) RIN, the threshold of global NMDA-spike generation was set by the somatic RIN. As cellular morphology can exert a large influence on RIN, morphologically distinct neuron types can have dissimilar rules for NMDA-spikes generation. For example, cortical neurons in superficial layers were found to be generally prone to global NMDA-spike generation. In contrast, electric properties of cortical layer 5b cells clearly favor focal NMDA-spikes. These differences can translate into diverse synaptic integration rules for the different classes of cortical cells; simulated superficial layers neurons were found to exhibit strong synaptic interactions between different dendritic branches, giving rise to a single integrative compartment mediated by the global NMDA-spike. In these cells, efficiency of postsynaptic activation was relatively little dependent on synaptic distribution. By contrast, layer 5b neurons were capable of true multi-unit computation involving independent integrative compartments formed by clustered synaptic input which could trigger focal NMDA-spikes. In a sharp contrast to superficial layers neurons, randomly distributed synaptic inputs were not very effective in driving firing the layer 5b cells, indicating a possibility for different computation performed by these important cortical neurons. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T13:36:03Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-88d76b8071fc4ba08225143fad1e2f03 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T13:36:03Z |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-88d76b8071fc4ba08225143fad1e2f032022-12-22T01:46:50ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032015-01-011010e014025410.1371/journal.pone.0140254Effects of Neural Morphology and Input Distribution on Synaptic Processing by Global and Focal NMDA-Spikes.Alon Poleg-PolskyCortical neurons can respond to glutamatergic stimulation with regenerative N-Methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA)-spikes. NMDA-spikes were initially thought to depend on clustered synaptic activation. Recent work had shown however a new variety of a global NMDA-spike, which can be generated by randomly distributed inputs. Very little is known about the factors that influence the generation of these global NMDA-spikes, as well the potentially distinct rules of synaptic integration and the computational significance conferred by the two types of NMDA-spikes. Here I show that the input resistance (RIN) plays a major role in influencing spike initiation; while the classical, focal NMDA-spike depended upon the local (dendritic) RIN, the threshold of global NMDA-spike generation was set by the somatic RIN. As cellular morphology can exert a large influence on RIN, morphologically distinct neuron types can have dissimilar rules for NMDA-spikes generation. For example, cortical neurons in superficial layers were found to be generally prone to global NMDA-spike generation. In contrast, electric properties of cortical layer 5b cells clearly favor focal NMDA-spikes. These differences can translate into diverse synaptic integration rules for the different classes of cortical cells; simulated superficial layers neurons were found to exhibit strong synaptic interactions between different dendritic branches, giving rise to a single integrative compartment mediated by the global NMDA-spike. In these cells, efficiency of postsynaptic activation was relatively little dependent on synaptic distribution. By contrast, layer 5b neurons were capable of true multi-unit computation involving independent integrative compartments formed by clustered synaptic input which could trigger focal NMDA-spikes. In a sharp contrast to superficial layers neurons, randomly distributed synaptic inputs were not very effective in driving firing the layer 5b cells, indicating a possibility for different computation performed by these important cortical neurons.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4604166?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Alon Poleg-Polsky Effects of Neural Morphology and Input Distribution on Synaptic Processing by Global and Focal NMDA-Spikes. PLoS ONE |
| title | Effects of Neural Morphology and Input Distribution on Synaptic Processing by Global and Focal NMDA-Spikes. |
| title_full | Effects of Neural Morphology and Input Distribution on Synaptic Processing by Global and Focal NMDA-Spikes. |
| title_fullStr | Effects of Neural Morphology and Input Distribution on Synaptic Processing by Global and Focal NMDA-Spikes. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of Neural Morphology and Input Distribution on Synaptic Processing by Global and Focal NMDA-Spikes. |
| title_short | Effects of Neural Morphology and Input Distribution on Synaptic Processing by Global and Focal NMDA-Spikes. |
| title_sort | effects of neural morphology and input distribution on synaptic processing by global and focal nmda spikes |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4604166?pdf=render |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alonpolegpolsky effectsofneuralmorphologyandinputdistributiononsynapticprocessingbyglobalandfocalnmdaspikes |