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A computer based model for realistic simulations of neural networks

I. The single neuron and synaptic interaction

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Abstract

The use of computer simulations as a neurophysiological tool creates new possibilities to understand complex systems and to test whether a given model can explain experimental findings. Simulations, however, require a detailed specification of the model, including the nerve cell action potential and synaptic transmission. We describe a neuron model of intermediate complexity, with a small number of compartments representing the soma and the dendritic tree, and equipped with Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Ca2+ dependent K+ channels. Conductance changes in the different compartments are used to model conventional excitatory and inhibitory synaptic interactions. Voltage dependent NMDA-receptor channels are also included, and influence both the electrical conductance and the inflow of Ca2+ ions. This neuron model has been designed for the analysis of neural networks and specifically for the simulation of the network generating locomotion in a simple vertebrate, the lamprey. By assigning experimentally established properties to the simulated cells and their synapses, it has been possible to verify the sufficiency of these properties to account for a number of experimental findings of the network in operation. The model is, however, sufficiently general to be useful for realistic simulation also of other neural systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Numerical Analysis and Computing Science, Royal Institute of Technology, S-100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

    Ö. Ekeberg, A. Lansner & H. Tråvén

  2. Nobel Institute for Neurophysiology, Karolinska Institute, Box 60400, S-104 01, Stockholm, Sweden

    P. Wallén, L. Brodin & S. Grillner

Authors
  1. Ö. Ekeberg
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  2. P. Wallén
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  3. A. Lansner
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  4. H. Tråvén
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  5. L. Brodin
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  6. S. Grillner
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Ekeberg, Ö., Wallén, P., Lansner, A. et al. A computer based model for realistic simulations of neural networks. Biol. Cybern. 65, 81–90 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00202382

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00202382

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