Resonant synchronization and bursting with active dendrites

We analyze the dynamical effects of active, linearized dendritic membranes on the synchronization properties of neuronal interactions. We show that a pair of pulse-coupled integrate-and-fire neurons interacting via active dendritic cables can exhibit resonant-like synchronization when the frequency of the oscillators is approximately matched to the resonant frequency of the membrane impedance. For weak coupling the neurons are phase-locked with constant inter-spike intervals whereas for strong coupling periodic bursting patterns are observed. This bursting behavior is reflected by the occurrence of a Hopf bifurcation in the firing-rates of a corresponding rate-coded model.


University of Utah | Department of Mathematics |
bressloff@math.utah.edu
Aug 2001.