DigitalCommons@TMC

Title

Short-Term Plasticity in a Computational Model of the Tail-Withdrawal Circuit in Aplysia.

Authors

Douglas S. Baxter, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX 77025
John H. Byrne, Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX 77025

Publication Date

6-1-2007

Journal

Neurocomputing. 2007 June; 70(10-12): 1993–1999.

Abstract

The tail-withdrawal circuit of Aplysia provides a useful model system for investigating synaptic dynamics. Sensory neurons within the circuit manifest several forms of synaptic plasticity. Here, we developed a model of the circuit and investigated the ways in which depression (DEP) and potentiation (POT) contributed to information processing. DEP limited the amount of motor neuron activity that could be elicited by the monosynaptic pathway alone. POT within the monosynaptic pathway did not compensate for DEP. There was, however, a synergistic interaction between POT and the polysynaptic pathway. This synergism extended the dynamic range of the network, and the interplay between DEP and POT made the circuit responded preferentially to long-duration, low-frequency inputs.

Keywords

Synaptic Depression, Post-tetanic Potentiation, Information Processing

Comments

PMCID: PMC2040302

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neucom.2006.10.080