How single-neuron dynamics modulate correlated activity in neural circuits

Andrea Barreiro

One source of spike train correlations in the nervous system is common input,
an inevitable consequence of the ubiquity of coding by populations.  The
details of how input correlations map onto output spike correlations is
surprisingly complex, depending on single-neuron dynamics in subtle ways.
Much progress has been made in untangling this relationship in Type-I and
Type-II excitable neurons, in both simplified phase oscillator and
conductance-based models.  In this talk, I will describe significant trends
that can be be quantitatively related to single-cell characteristics, such as
the spike triggered average (STA) and phase resetting curve (PRC), and
demonstrate how these properties can be used to modulate the firing rate of
downstream populations.  I will then describe on-going work in which we apply
these techniques to novel patterns of excitability that arise in the presence
of calcium currents.