Synchronization Effects in Networks of Striatal Fast Spiking Interneurons – Role of Gap Junctions

Abstract

Recent studies have found gap junctions between striatal fast spiking interneurons (FSN). Gap junctions between neocortical FSNs cause increased synchrony of firing in response to current injection, but the effect of gap junctions in response to synaptic input is unknown. To explore this issue, we built a network model of FSNs. Each FSN connects to 30–40% of its neighbours, as found experimentally, and each FSN in the network is activated by simulated up-state synaptic inputs. Simulation experiments show that the proportion of synchronous spikes in coupled FSNs increases with gap junction conductance. Proximal gap junctions increase the synchronization more than distal gap junctions. During up-states the synchronization effects in FSNs coupled pairwise with proximal gap junctions are small for experimentally estimated gap junction conductances; however, higher order correlations are significantly increased in larger FSN networks.