Modeling the influence of ion channels on neuron dynamics in Drosophila

Sandra D. Berger, Sharon Crook

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Scopus citations

Abstract

Voltage gated ion channels play a major role in determining a neuron's firing behavior, resulting in the specific processing of synaptic input patterns. Drosophila and other invertebrates provide valuable model systems for investigating ion channel kinetics and their impact on firing properties. Despite the increasing importance of Drosophila as a model system, few computational models of its ion channel kinetics have been developed. In this study, experimentally observed biophysical properties of voltage gated ion channels from the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster are used to develop a minimal, conductance based neuron model. We investigate the impact of the densities of these channels on the excitability of the model neuron. Changing the channel densities reproduces different in situ observed firing patterns and induces a switch from integrator to resonator properties. Further, we analyze the preference to input frequency and how it depends on the channel densities and the resulting bifurcation type the system undergoes. An extension to a three dimensional model demonstrates that the inactivation kinetics of the sodium channels play an important role, allowing for firing patterns with a delayed first spike and subsequent high frequency firing as often observed in invertebrates, without altering the kinetics of the delayed rectifier current.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numberA139
Pages (from-to)1-20
Number of pages20
JournalFrontiers in Computational Neuroscience
Volume9
Issue numberNovember
DOIs
StatePublished - 2015

Keywords

  • Bifurcation studies
  • Drosophila model
  • Ion channel kinetics
  • Membrane excitability
  • Neuronal dynamics

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Neuroscience (miscellaneous)
  • Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience

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