"In many forms of retinal degeneration, photoreceptors die but inner retinal circuits remain intact. In the rd1 mouse, an established model for blinding retinal diseases, spontaneous activity in the coupled network of AII amacrine and ON cone bipolar cells leads to rhythmic bursting of ganglion cells. Since such activity could impair retinal and/or cortical responses to restored photoreceptor function, understanding its nature is important for developing treatments of retinal pathologies. Here we analyzed a compartmental model of the wild-type mouse AII amacrine cell to predict that the cell's intrinsic membrane properties, specifically, interacting fast Na and slow, M-type K conductances, would allow its membrane potential to oscillate when light-evoked excitatory synaptic inputs were withdrawn following photoreceptor degeneration. ..."
Model Type: Realistic Network; Neuron or other electrically excitable cell
Region(s) or Organism(s): Retina
Model Concept(s): Bursting; Oscillations; Action Potentials; Bifurcation
Simulation Environment: MATLAB
References:
Choi H et al. (2014). Intrinsic bursting of AII amacrine cells underlies oscillations in the rd1 mouse retina. Journal of neurophysiology. 112 [PubMed]