Ekeberg O, Wallén P, Lansner A, Tråvén H, Brodin L, Grillner S
Department of Numerical Analysis and Computing Science, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
Biol Cybern. 1991;65(2):81-90. doi: 10.1007/BF00202382.
The use of computer simulations as a neurophysiological tool creates new possibilities to understand complex systems and to test whether a given model can explain experimental findings. Simulations, however, require a detailed specification of the model, including the nerve cell action potential and synaptic transmission. We describe a neuron model of intermediate complexity, with a small number of compartments representing the soma and the dendritic tree, and equipped with Na+, K+, Ca2+, and Ca2+ dependent K+ channels. Conductance changes in the different compartments are used to model conventional excitatory and inhibitory synaptic interactions. Voltage dependent NMDA-receptor channels are also included, and influence both the electrical conductance and the inflow of Ca2+ ions. This neuron model has been designed for the analysis of neural networks and specifically for the simulation of the network generating locomotion in a simple vertebrate, the lamprey. By assigning experimentally established properties to the simulated cells and their synapses, it has been possible to verify the sufficiency of these properties to account for a number of experimental findings of the network in operation. The model is, however, sufficiently general to be useful for realistic simulation also of other neural systems.
将计算机模拟作为一种神经生理学工具来使用，为理解复杂系统以及检验给定模型能否解释实验结果创造了新的可能性。然而，模拟需要对模型进行详细的规范，包括神经细胞动作电位和突触传递。我们描述了一个中等复杂度的神经元模型，它有少量代表胞体和树突树的隔室，并配备了Na+、K+、Ca2+以及Ca2+依赖性K+通道。不同隔室中的电导变化用于模拟传统的兴奋性和抑制性突触相互作用。还包括电压依赖性NMDA受体通道，其对电导和Ca2+离子流入均有影响。这个神经元模型是为分析神经网络而设计的，特别是用于模拟在一种简单脊椎动物七鳃鳗中产生运动的网络。通过将实验确定的特性赋予模拟细胞及其突触，已能够验证这些特性足以解释该网络运行中的许多实验结果。然而，该模型具有足够的通用性，也可用于对其他神经系统进行逼真的模拟。
