A biophysical model of synaptic delay learning and temporal pattern recognition in a cerebellar Purkinje cell.

Full Abstract

It has been suggested that information in the brain is encoded in temporal spike patterns which are decoded by a combination of time delays and coincidence detection. Here, we show how a multi-compartmental model of a cerebellar Purkinje cell can learn to recognise temporal parallel fibre activity patterns by adapting latencies of calcium responses after activation of metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs). In each compartment of our model, the mGluR signalling cascade is represented by a set of differential equations that reflect the underlying biochemistry. Phosphorylation of the mGluRs changes the concentration of receptors which are available for activation by glutamate and thereby adjusts the time delay between mGluR stimulation and voltage response. The adaptation of a synaptic delay as opposed to a weight represents a novel non-Hebbian learning mechanism that can also implement the adaptive timing of the classically conditioned eye-blink response.

Author information

Author/s: Steuber, Volker (V); Willshaw, David (D);

Affiliation: Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, University of Edinburgh, 5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh EH1 2QL, Scotland, UK. v.steuber(-atsign-)ucl.ac.uk

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of computational neuroscience (J Comput Neurosci), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: -2004 Sep-Oct; vol 17 (issue 2) : pp 149-64

Dates: Created 2004/08/12; Completed 2004/11/15; Revised 2006/11/15;

PMID: 15306737, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

External Links for this article
(including full text providers, if available):

Click Electronic Full-text Provider Links to see options for finding the electronic full text links to this article. Note there may be a subscription or fee required for access to the full text. See our FAQ for information on finding FREE full text articles.

This article may also be located in paper journal collections available in many libraries. Use the Journal and Publication Information above to find the full article.