How is bursting mode maintained under the action of exo- and endogenous factors?

Abstract.

 The investigation is concerned with slow oscillations of the intracellular calcium concentration, fast oscillations of the membrane potential, and their interactions during bursting generation. The question associated with functioning of the bursting mode is considered: how is the condition of simultaneous existence of the slow and fast membrane potential oscillations (necessary for the bursting mode) realized under exo- and endogenous actions that result in changes in the neuron membrane parameters? To answer the question the regions of existence of fast, slow and bursting oscillations have been constructed on different parameter planes. The study has revealed that in spite of the fact the regions of the existence of the slow and fast oscillations are sensitive to parameter variations, the condition of the bursting mode existence remains due to invariance of the spatial vicinity of these regions. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that there exists the possibility to enhance the maximal conductances of the calcium-dependent currents simultaneously such that even strong variations of their values do not induce changes of the oscillations mode (i.e. it remains bursting).