Metzen Michael G, Krahe Rüdiger, Chacron Maurice J
Department of Physiology, McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada.
Department of Biology, McGill University Montreal, QC, Canada.
Front Comput Neurosci. 2016 Aug 2;10:81. doi: 10.3389/fncom.2016.00081. eCollection 2016.
Neurons across sensory systems and organisms often display complex patterns of action potentials in response to sensory input. One example of such a pattern is the tendency of neurons to fire packets of action potentials (i.e., a burst) followed by quiescence. While it is well known that multiple mechanisms can generate bursts of action potentials at both the single-neuron and the network level, the functional role of burst firing in sensory processing is not so well understood to date. Here we provide a comprehensive review of the known mechanisms and functions of burst firing in processing of electrosensory stimuli in gymnotiform weakly electric fish. We also present new evidence from existing data showing that bursts and isolated spikes provide distinct information about stimulus variance. It is likely that these functional roles will be generally applicable to other systems and species.
跨感觉系统和生物体的神经元在对感觉输入作出反应时，常常表现出复杂的动作电位模式。这种模式的一个例子是神经元倾向于发放成组的动作电位（即爆发），随后是静息状态。虽然众所周知，多种机制可在单神经元和网络层面产生动作电位爆发，但迄今为止，爆发式放电在感觉处理中的功能作用尚未得到很好的理解。在此，我们全面综述了裸背电鳗目弱电鱼在处理电感觉刺激时爆发式放电的已知机制和功能。我们还从现有数据中给出了新证据，表明爆发和单个尖峰提供了关于刺激方差的不同信息。这些功能作用可能普遍适用于其他系统和物种。
