The provided code is a computational neuroscience model simulating the synaptic interactions and electrical behavior of a small neural circuit involving mitral cells and granule cells. These cells are key components of the olfactory bulb, a brain structure involved in the processing of olfactory (smell) information. Here's a breakdown of the biological basis of this model:
Mitral Cells (mt):
mt[0]
, mt[1]
, and mt[2]
. Each of these cells can receive simulated current injections through the use of IClamp
to emulate synaptic or depolarizing input.Granule Cells (gc):
gc[0]
, gc[1]
, and gc[2]
.Inhibition:
NetCon
objects (e.g., nc[15]
and nc[18]
), with typical parameters set for inhibitory neurotransmission, such as a conductance-based weight (inh
).Excitation:
sampa
) and NMDA (synmt
) receptors, which are distinct types of glutamate receptors mediating fast and slow excitatory postsynaptic potentials, respectively (e.g., nc[10]
, nc[11]
).Vrest
) set to −65 mV—a common resting potential for neurons.nax
(sodium channels) and g_pas
(passive conductance) suggests that standard neuronal ion channel dynamics might be employed elsewhere in the model to simulate action potential generation and propagation.celsius=35
) reflects physiological conditions, important for accurately modeling neuron biophysics and kinetics.dt
) and total simulation time (tstop
) are defined for the simulation to control the temporal resolution and duration of neuronal activity being modeled.In summary, this computational model captures key aspects of the olfactory bulb's mitral-granule cell interactions, emphasizing how inhibitory and excitatory synaptic inputs shape the electrical dynamics and signal processing capabilities of this neural circuit.