Implementation of linear sensory signaling via multiple coordinated mechanisms at central vestibular nerve synapses.

ABSTRACT: Signal transfer in neural circuits is dynamically modified by the recent history of neuronal activity. Short-term plasticity endows synapses with nonlinear transmission properties, yet synapses in sensory and motor circuits are capable of signaling linearly over a wide range of presynaptic firing rates. How do such synapses achieve rate-invariant transmission despite history-dependent nonlinearities? Here, ultrastructural, biophysical, and computational analyses demonstrate that concerted molecular, anatomical, and physiological refinements are required for central vestibular nerve synapses to linearly transmit rate-coded sensory signals. Vestibular synapses operate in a physiological regime of steady-state depression imposed by tonic firing. Rate-invariant transmission relies on brief pre

SUBMITTER: McElvain LE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4352118 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature