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Modeling Hermissenda: I. Differential contributions of I A and I C to type-B cell plasticity

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Abstract

We developed a multicompartmental Hodgkin-Huxley model of the Hermissenda type-B photoreceptor and used it to address the relative contributions of reductions of two K+ currents, I a and I C, to changes in cellular excitability and synaptic strength that occur in these cells after associative learning. We found that reductions of gC, the peak conductance of I C, substantially increased the firing frequency of the type-B cell during the plateau phase of a simulated light response, whereas reductions of gA had only a modest contribution to the plateau frequency. This can be understood at least in part by the contributions of these currents to the light-induced (nonspiking) generator potential, the plateau of which was enhanced by gC reductions, but not by gA reductions. In contrast, however, reductions of gA broadened the type-B cell action potential, increased Ca2+ influx, and increased the size of the postsynaptic potential produced in a type-A cell, whereas similar reductions of gC had only negligible contributions to these measures. These results suggest that reductions of I A and I C play important but different roles in type-B cell plasticity.

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  1. Program in Neuroscience, Dept. Psychology, Princeton University, 08544, Princeton, NJ

    Joshua W. Fost & Gregory A. Clark

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  1. Joshua W. Fost
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Fost, J.W., Clark, G.A. Modeling Hermissenda: I. Differential contributions of I A and I C to type-B cell plasticity. J Comput Neurosci 3, 137–153 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00160809

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00160809

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