Event Abstract Back to Event Stochastic adaptation currents as a colored noise source in a sensory neuron Jan Benda1, 2* 1 Biozentrum der LMU, Dept. Biology II, Germany 2 Bernstein Center Munich, Germany Channel noise is the dominant intrinsic noise source of neurons causing variability in the timing of action potentials and interspike intervals (ISI) and thus affects neural information processing. Slow adaptation currents are observed in many cells and strongly shape response properties of neurons. We study the effect of channel noise of adaptation currents on the ISI statistics of an integrate-and-fire model neuron by means of analytical techniques and extensive numerical simulations. We contrast this stochastic adaptation with the commonly studied case of a fast fluctuating current noise and a deterministic adaptation current. For the latter case the ISI density is well approximated by an inverse Gaussian (IG) as expected for white-noise driving and the ISI correlations are negative. In marked contrast, stochastic adaptation generates colored-noise with correlation time given by the adaptation time constant. The resulting ISI density is more peaked and has a heavier tail than an IG density and the serial correlations are positive. Based on these theoretical findings we investigate potential sources of spike-response variability in auditory receptor neurons of locusts. At low spike frequencies, our recordings show negative ISI correlations and ISI distributions that match the IG, in accordance with a white noise source interacting with an adaptation current. At higher spike frequencies, more peaked distributions and positive ISI correlations appear, as expected for a colored-noise source. Simulations of a minimal conductance-based model of the auditory receptor neuron with stochastic ion channels suggest channel noise from an adaptation current and the receptor or sodium current as the main sources for the colored and white noise, respectively. We also discuss how the different noise sources shape the spike-count statistics. In particular, how the positive correlations caused by the colored noise create an optimal integration time with minimal spike-count variability. Keywords: Neuronal Mechanisms in Sensory Systems Conference: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011, Freiburg, Germany, 4 Oct - 6 Oct, 2011. Presentation Type: Keynote Topic: other Citation: Benda J (2011). Stochastic adaptation currents as a colored noise source in a sensory neuron. Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: BC11 : Computational Neuroscience & Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference & Neurex Annual Meeting 2011. doi: 10.3389/conf.fncom.2011.53.00029 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 26 Sep 2011; Published Online: 04 Oct 2011. * Correspondence: Prof. Jan Benda, Biozentrum der LMU, Dept. Biology II, Munich, Germany, jan.benda@uni-tuebingen.de Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jan Benda Google Jan Benda Google Scholar Jan Benda PubMed Jan Benda Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.