Bioengineering Department, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
PLoS Comput Biol. 2018 Mar 12;14(3):e1006025. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006025. eCollection 2018 Mar.
Cortical oscillations are thought to be involved in many cognitive functions and processes. Several mechanisms have been proposed to regulate oscillations. One prominent but understudied mechanism is gap junction coupling. Gap junctions are ubiquitous in cortex between GABAergic interneurons. Moreover, recent experiments indicate their strength can be modified in an activity-dependent manner, similar to chemical synapses. We hypothesized that activity-dependent gap junction plasticity acts as a mechanism to regulate oscillations in the cortex. We developed a computational model of gap junction plasticity in a recurrent cortical network based on recent experimental findings. We showed that gap junction plasticity can serve as a homeostatic mechanism for oscillations by maintaining a tight balance between two network states: asynchronous irregular activity and synchronized oscillations. This homeostatic mechanism allows for robust communication between neuronal assemblies through two different mechanisms: transient oscillations and frequency modulation. This implies a direct functional role for gap junction plasticity in information transmission in cortex.
皮层振荡被认为参与了许多认知功能和过程。已经提出了几种调节振荡的机制。一个突出但研究较少的机制是缝隙连接耦合。缝隙连接在皮层中 GABA 能中间神经元之间普遍存在。此外，最近的实验表明，它们的强度可以以类似于化学突触的方式进行活动依赖性调节。我们假设，活动依赖性缝隙连接可塑性是调节皮层振荡的一种机制。我们根据最近的实验结果，在一个递归皮层网络中开发了一个缝隙连接可塑性的计算模型。我们表明，缝隙连接可塑性可以通过在两种网络状态之间保持紧密的平衡来作为振荡的一种自稳态机制：异步不规则活动和同步振荡。这种自稳态机制允许神经元集合通过两种不同的机制进行稳健的通信：暂态振荡和频率调制。这意味着缝隙连接可塑性在皮层中的信息传递中具有直接的功能作用。
