A Network Model of Automatic Gain Control in the Electrosensory System

Abstract

In the electrosensory systems of weakly electric fish, descending pathways to a first-order electrosensory nucleus have been shown to influence the gain of its output neurons. To explain this gain control capability, we have previously proposed a neural mechanism involving the regulation of total membrane conductance via synaptic background activity. We have now incorporated this proposed neuron-level mechanism into a network-level model of automatic gain control. The model is based on the known circuitry of the electrosensory lateral line lobe (ELL) and associated brain regions in the brown ghost knife fish, Apteronotus leptorhynchus.