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Type I Burst Excitability

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Abstract

We introduce the concept of “type I burst excitability”, which is a generalization of the “normal” excitability that is well-known in cardiac and neural systems. We demonstrate this type of burst excitability in a specific model system, a pyramidal cell from the electrosensory lateral line lobe of the weakly electric fish Apteronotus leptorhynchus. As depolarizing current is increased, a saddle-node bifurcation of periodic orbits occurs, which separates tonic and burst activity. This bifurcation is responsible for the excitable nature of the system, and is the basis for the “type I” designation. We verify the existence of this transition from in vitro recordings of a number of actual pyramidal cells. A scaling relationship between the magnitude and duration of a current pulse required to induce a burst is derived. We also observe this type of burst excitability and the scaling relationships in a multicompartmental model that is driven by realistic stochastic synaptic inputs mimicking sensory input. We conclude by discussing the relevance of burst excitability to communication between weakly electric fish.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, K1N 6N5

    Carlo R. Laing, Brent Doiron & André Longtin

  2. Department of Cell Biology and Anatomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada, T2N 4N1

    Liza Noonan & Ray W. Turner

  3. Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, K1H 8M5

    Leonard Maler

Authors
  1. Carlo R. Laing
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  2. Brent Doiron
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  3. André Longtin
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  4. Liza Noonan
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  5. Ray W. Turner
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  6. Leonard Maler
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Laing, C.R., Doiron, B., Longtin, A. et al. Type I Burst Excitability. J Comput Neurosci 14, 329–342 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023269128622

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1023269128622

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