"Neural oscillations are observed ubiquitously in the mammalian brain, but their stability is known to be rather variable. Some oscillations are tonic and last for seconds or even minutes. Other oscillations appear as unstable bursts. Likewise, some oscillations rely on excitatory AMPAergic synapses, but others are GABAergic and inhibitory. Why this diversity exists is not clear. We hypothesized Ca2+-dependent homeostasis could be important in finding an explanation. We tested this hypothesis in a highly simplified model of hippocampal neurons. In this model homeostasis profoundly alters the modulatory effect of neural oscillations. Under homeostasis, tonic AMPAergic oscillations actually decrease excitability and desynchronize firing. Tonic oscillations that are synaptically GABAergic-like those in real hippocampus-don't provoke a homeostatic response, however. If our simple model is correct, homeostasis can explain why the theta rhythm in the hippocampus is synaptically inhibitory: GABA has little to no intrinsic homeostatic response, and so can preserve the pyramidal cell's natural dynamic range. Based on these results we can also speculate that homeostasis may explain why AMPAergic oscillations in cortex, and hippocampus, often appear as bursts. Bursts do not interact with the slow homeostatic time constant, and so retain their normal excitatory effect."
Model Type: Realistic Network
Region(s) or Organism(s): Hippocampus
Cell Type(s): Hodgkin-Huxley neuron; Abstract Morris-Lecar neuron
Currents: I Na,t; I K; I K,Ca; I Calcium
Model Concept(s): Bursting; Simplified Models; Activity Patterns; Oscillations; Homeostasis
Simulation Environment: Python (web link to model)
References:
Peterson EJ, Voytek B. (2020). Homeostatic mechanisms may shape the type and duration of oscillatory modulation. Journal of neurophysiology. 124 [PubMed]