Nonlinear dendritic integration of electrical and chemical synaptic inputs drives fine-scale correlations.

ABSTRACT: Throughout the CNS, gap junction-mediated electrical signals synchronize neural activity on millisecond timescales via cooperative interactions with chemical synapses. However, gap junction-mediated synchrony has rarely been studied in the context of varying spatiotemporal patterns of electrical and chemical synaptic activity. Thus, the mechanism underlying fine-scale synchrony and its relationship to neural coding remain unclear. We examined spike synchrony in pairs of genetically identified, electrically coupled ganglion cells in mouse retina. We found that coincident electrical and chemical synaptic inputs, but not electrical inputs alone, elicited synchronized dendritic spikes in subregions of coupled dendritic trees. The resulting nonlinear integration produced fine-scale synchrony in

SUBMITTER: Trenholm S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4265022 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature