Multicompartment simulations of NMDA receptor based facilitation in an insect target tracking neuron

• Computational modelling of neurons on different scales provides not only methods to explore mechanisms observed in vivo but also for testing hypotheses that would be impossible physiologically. In this paper we present initial computational analysis of insect lobula small target motion detector (STMD) neurons. We simulate a multicompartment model in combination with a bioinspired model for front-end processing. This combination of different simulation environments enables a combination of scale and detail not possible otherwise. The addressed hypothesis is that facilitation involves N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) synapses which map retinotopically onto the dendritic tree of the STMD neuron. Our results show that a stronger response (facilitation) is generated when using continuous visual stimuli as opposed to random jumps. We observe two levels of facilitation which may be involved in selective attention.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Bioinformatik (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Bioinformatics (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Bioinspired

Computational neuroscience

Facilitation

Model

Multicompartment

Selective attention

Simulation

Small target motion detection

Publication and Content Type

kon (subject category)

ref (subject category)