Activity-mediated accumulation of potassium induces a switch in firing pattern and neuronal excitability type.

ABSTRACT: During normal neuronal activity, ionic concentration gradients across a neuron's membrane are often assumed to be stable. Prolonged spiking activity, however, can reduce transmembrane gradients and affect voltage dynamics. Based on mathematical modeling, we investigated the impact of neuronal activity on ionic concentrations and, consequently, the dynamics of action potential generation. We find that intense spiking activity on the order of a second suffices to induce changes in ionic reversal potentials and to consistently induce a switch from a regular to an intermittent firing mode. This transition is caused by a qualitative alteration in the system's voltage dynamics, mathematically corresponding to a co-dimension-two bifurcation from a saddle-node on invariant cycle (SNIC) to a homocl

SUBMITTER: Contreras SA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8205125 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature