Bifurcation diagram globally underpinning neuronal firing behaviors modified by SK conductance

Abstract

Neurons in the brain utilize various firing trains to encode the input signals they have received. Firing behavior of one single neuron is thoroughly explained by using a bifurcation diagram from polarized resting to firing, and then to depolarized resting. This explanation provides an important theoretical principle for understanding neuronal biophysical behaviors. This paper reports the novel experimental and modeling results of the modification of such a bifurcation diagram by adjusting small conductance potassium (SK) channel. In experiments, changes in excitability and depolarization block in nucleus accumbens shell and medium-spiny projection neurons are explored by increasing the intensity of injected current and blocking the SK channels by apamin. A shift of bifurcation points is observed. Then, a Hodgkin—Huxley type model including the main electrophysiological processes of such neurons is developed to reproduce the experimental results. The reduction of SK channel conductance also shifts the bifurcations, which is in consistence with experiment. A global bifurcation paradigm of this shift is obtained by adjusting two parameters, intensity of injected current and SK channel conductance. This work reveals the dynamics underpinning modulation of neuronal firing behaviors by biologically important ionic conductance. The results indicate that small ionic conductance other than that responsible for spike generation can modify bifurcation points and shift the bifurcation diagram and, thus, change neuronal excitability and adaptation.