    Rhesus Monkey Layer 3 Pyramidal Neurons: Young vs aged PFC (Coskren et
    al. 2015)

    README for the models associated with the paper

    Coskren PJ, Luebke JI, Kabaso BD, Wearne SL, Yadav A, Rumbell T, Hof
    PR, Weaver CM. Functional consequences of age-related morphologic
    changes to pyramidal neurons of the rhesus monkey prefrontal cortex.
    Journal of Computational Neuroscience (2015).

    These files were contributed by Christina Weaver [christina.weaver at
    fandm.edu], and run under the NEURON simulation environment.

    Summary:

    Layer 3 (L3) pyramidal neurons in the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC)
    of rhesus monkeys exhibit dendritic regression, spine loss and
    increased action potential (AP) firing rates during normal aging.  The
    relationship between these structural and functional alterations, if
    any, is unknown. Computational models using the digital
    reconstructions with Hodgkin-Huxley and AMPA channels allowed us to
    assess relationships between demonstrated age-related changes and to
    predict physiological changes that have not yet been tested
    empirically. Tuning passive parameters for each model predicted
    significantly higher membrane resistance (Rm) in aged versus young
    neurons.  This Rm increase alone did not account for the empirically
    observed fI-curves, but coupling these Rm values with subtle
    differences in morphology and membrane capacitance Cm did. The
    predicted differences in passive parameters (or other parameters with
    similar effects) are mathematically plausible, but must be tested
    empirically.

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    This model can be run by starting the mosinit.hoc with:

    nrngui mosinit.hoc

    or double clicking on the mosinit.hoc file after the mod files have
    been compiled (nrnivmodl compiles in unix, mknrndll in mswin, mac)

    The mosinit.hoc file reproduces data from Figure 7 of the paper.  To
    reproduce data from Figure 6 of the paper, see the README in the
    HHmodel directory.

    After the simulation starts, if you click the "test firing rate"
    button at the bottom and click "GO" after a few moments you should see
    a window like: