Exploring parameter space in detailed single neuron models: simulations of the mitral and granule cells of the olfactory bulb

1993 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1948-1965 ◽  
Author(s):  
U. S. Bhalla ◽  
J. M. Bower

1. Detailed compartmental computer simulations of single mitral and granule cells of the vertebrate olfactory bulb were constructed using previously published geometric data. Electrophysiological properties were determined by comparing model output to previously published experimental data, mainly current-clamp recordings. 2. The passive electrical properties of each model were explored by comparing model output with intracellular potential data from hyperpolarizing current injection experiments. The results suggest that membrane resistivity in both cells is nonuniform, with somatas having a substantially lower resistivity than the dendrites. 3. The active properties of these cells were explored by incorporating active ion channels into modeled compartments. On the basis of evidence from the literature, the mitral cell model included six channel types: fast sodium, fast delayed rectifier (Kfast), slow delayed rectifier (K), transient outward potassium current (KA), voltage- and calcium-dependent potassium current (KCa), and L-type calcium current. The granule cell model included four channel types: rat brain sodium, K, KA, and the non-inactivating muscarinic potassium current (KM). Modeled channels were based on the Hodgkin-Huxley formalism. 4. Representative kinetics for each of the channel classes above were obtained from the literature. The experimentally unknown spatial distributions of each included channel were obtained by systematic parameter searches. These were conducted in two ways: large-scale simulation series, in which each parameter was varied in turn, and an adaptation of a multidimensional conjugate gradient method. In each case, the simulated results were compared wtih experimental data using a curve-matching function evaluating mean squared differences of several aspects of the simulated and experimental voltage waveforms. 5. Systematic parameter variations revealed a single distinct region of parameter space in which the mitral cell model best fit the data. This region of parameter space was also very robust to parameter variations. Specifically, optimum performance was obtained when calcium and slow K channels were concentrated in the glomeruli, with a lower density in the soma and proximal secondary dendrites. The distribution of sodium and fast potassium channels, on the other hand, was highest at the soma and axon, with a much lighter distribution throughout the secondary dendrites. The KA and KCa channels were also concentrated near the soma. 6. The parameter search of the granule cell model was much less restrained by experimental data. Several parameter regimes were found that gave a good match to the data.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (4) ◽  
pp. 3136-3141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Heinbockel ◽  
Kathryn A. Hamilton ◽  
Matthew Ennis

In the main olfactory bulb, several populations of granule cells (GCs) can be distinguished based on the soma location either superficially, interspersed with mitral cells within the mitral cell layer (MCL), or deeper, within the GC layer (GCL). Little is known about the physiological properties of superficial GCs (sGCs) versus deep GCs (dGCs). Here, we used patch-clamp recording methods to explore the role of Group I metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs) in regulating the activity of GCs in slices from wildtype and mGluR−/− mutant mice. In wildtype mice, bath application of the selective Group I mGluR agonist DHPG depolarized and increased the firing rate of both GC subtypes. In the presence of blockers of fast synaptic transmission (APV, CNQX, gabazine), DHPG directly depolarized both GC subtypes, although the two GC subtypes responded differentially to DHPG in mGluR1−/− and mGluR5−/− mice. DHPG depolarized sGCs in slices from mGluR5−/− mice, although it had no effect on sGCs in slices from mGluR1−/− mice. By contrast, DHPG depolarized dGCs in slices from mGluR1−/− mice but had no effect on dGCs in slices from mGluR5−/− mice. Previous studies showed that mitral cells express mGluR1 but not mGluR5. The present results therefore suggest that sGCs are more similar to mitral cells than dGCs in terms of mGluR expression.


1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 631-651
Author(s):  
J. L. PRICE ◽  
T. P. S. POWELL

A description is given of the mitral and short axon cells of the olfactory bulb of the rat from Golgi material examined with the light microscope and from material examined with the electron microscope. The mitral cells are large neurons with primary and secondary dendrites which both extend into the overlying external plexiform layer, although only the primary dendrite enters the glomerular formations. No predominant antero-posterior orientation of the secondary dendrites has been found. Within the glomeruli the mitral cell dendrites are in synaptic contact with the olfactory nerves and also with the periglomerular cells, but elsewhere the only synapses on the mitral cells are the ‘reciprocal synapses’ with the granule cells. Synaptic-type vesicles are found in all parts of the mitral cells, including the axon initial segments; they appear to be especially concentrated in the distal portions of the dendrites. Several types of short axon cells have been found in the granule cell layer in Golgi-impregnated material. Their cell bodies can also be distinguished with the electron microscope, and from previous work it is probable that the axons of at least some of these cells form flattened-vesicle symmetrical synapses upon the granule cells.


1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-155
Author(s):  
J. L. PRICE ◽  
T. P. S POWELL

The synapses related to the granule cells of the olfactory bulb of rat brain have been studied in aldehyde-fixed material. The synapses can be divided into three classes: (1) those which have asymmetrical synaptic membrane thickenings and spheroidal synaptic vesicles; (2) those with symmetrical synaptic thickenings and flattened vesicles; and (3) the reciprocal synapses, one half of which (from mitral to granule cell) has an asymmetrical synaptic thickening associated with spheroidal vesicles, while the other half (from granule to mitral cell) has a symmetrical synaptic thickening and flattened vesicles. Qualitative observations, supported by preliminary quantitative measurements, suggest that it may be possible to divide both the spheroidal and flattened-vesicle types into two further varieties, on the basis of size, The smaller variety of spheroidal vesicles is found in most axon terminals, while the larger spheroidal vesicles are present in mitral cell dendrites and in some of the axon terminals. The flattened vesicles associated with symmetrical synapses which are oriented on to the granule cells are smaller than the spheroidal vesicles, but the flattened vesicles in the spines and gemmules of the granule cells are the same size or larger than the spheroidal vesicles. The division of flattened vesicles into two sizes is supported by statistical analysis of measurements of these vesicles, but because of difficulty in identifying the axon terminals with asymmetrical synapses there is no quantitative evidence for such a division of spheroidal vesicles. The asymmetrical synapses are found predominantly on spines, gemmules, and dendritic varicosities, although they are occasionally present on shafts of dendrites and on the cell somata. The symmetrical synapses are almost completely restricted to the shafts of the peripheral processes and the deep dendrites, and to the cell somata; only very rarely are synapses of this type found on spines, and then always in conjunction with an asymmetrical synapse.


2008 ◽  
Vol 294 (6) ◽  
pp. H2565-H2575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda J. Wang ◽  
Eric A. Sobie

Therapies for heart disease are based largely on our understanding of the adult myocardium. The dramatic differences in action potential (AP) shape between neonatal and adult cardiac myocytes, however, indicate that a different set of molecular interactions in neonatal myocytes necessitates different treatment for newborns. Computational modeling is useful for synthesizing data to determine how interactions between components lead to systems-level behavior, but this technique has not been used extensively to study neonatal heart cell function. We created a mathematical model of the neonatal ( day 1) mouse myocyte by modifying, on the basis of experimental data, the densities and/or formulations of ion transport mechanisms in an adult cell model. The new model reproduces the characteristic AP shape of neonatal cells, with a brief plateau phase and longer duration than the adult (action potential duration at 80% repolarization = 60.1 vs. 12.6 ms). The simulation results are consistent with experimental data, including 1) decreased density and altered inactivation of transient outward K+ currents, 2) increased delayed rectifier K+ currents, 3) Ca2+ entry through T-type as well as L-type Ca2+ channels, 4) increased Ca2+ influx through Na+/Ca2+ exchange, and 5) Ca2+ transients resulting from transmembrane Ca2+ entry rather than release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR). Simulations performed with the model generated novel predictions, including increased SR Ca2+ leak and elevated intracellular Na+ concentration in neonatal compared with adult myocytes. This new model can therefore be used for testing hypotheses and obtaining a better quantitative understanding of differences between neonatal and adult physiology.


1980 ◽  
Vol 28 (11) ◽  
pp. 1157-1169 ◽  
Author(s):  
D A Godfrey ◽  
C D Ross ◽  
J A Carter ◽  
O H Lowry ◽  
F M Matschinsky

Levels of the proposed neurotransmitter amino acids glutamate, aspartate, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and glycine were measured within the layered structures of the olfactory bulb and olfactory cortex following unilateral transections of the lateral olfactory tract or of virtually all fiber tracts of the olfactory peduncle. Distributions of the amino acids on both lesion and control sides were examined and compared by means of a mapping procedure. The results suggest: 1) Glutamate and aspartate are specifically associated with mitral (and presumably also tufted) cell axons and terminals in the piriform cortex. The distribution of aspartate in the olfactory bulb is further suggestive of a specific association of aspartate with mitral cell dendrites and somata. 2) Glutamate might be specifically associated with some centrifugal fibers traveling to the olfactory bulb in or near the anterior commissure. 3) GABA might be specifically related to some certrifugal fibers to the olfactory bulb in addition to its prominent association with granule cells of the bulb. 4) Glycine is unlikely to play a prominent neurotransmitter role in either the olfactory bulb or olfactory cortex.


2003 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 1921-1935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew P. Davison ◽  
Jianfeng Feng ◽  
David Brown

In the olfactory bulb, both the spatial distribution and the temporal structure of neuronal activity appear to be important for processing odor information, but it is currently impossible to measure both of these simultaneously with high resolution and in all layers of the bulb. We have developed a biologically realistic model of the mammalian olfactory bulb, incorporating the mitral and granule cells and the dendrodendritic synapses between them, which allows us to observe the network behavior in detail. The cell models were based on previously published work. The attributes of the synapses were obtained from the literature. The pattern of synaptic connections was based on the limited experimental data in the literature on the statistics of connections between neurons in the bulb. The results of simulation experiments with electrical stimulation agree closely in most details with published experimental data. This gives confidence that the model is capturing features of network interactions in the real olfactory bulb. The model predicts that the time course of dendrodendritic inhibition is dependent on the network connectivity as well as on the intrinsic parameters of the synapses. In response to simulated odor stimulation, strongly activated mitral cells tend to suppress neighboring cells, the mitral cells readily synchronize their firing, and increasing the stimulus intensity increases the degree of synchronization. Preliminary experiments suggest that slow temporal changes in the degree of synchronization are more useful in distinguishing between very similar odorants than is the spatial distribution of mean firing rate.


1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 932-947 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. Wellis ◽  
J. W. Scott

1. Intracellular recordings were made from 28 granule cells and 6 periglomerular cells of the rat olfactory bulb during odor stimulation and electrical stimulation of the olfactory nerve layer (ONL) and lateral olfactory tract (LOT). Neurons were identified by injection of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) or biocytin and/or intracellular response characteristics. Odorants were presented in a cyclic sniff paradigm, as reported previously. 2. All interneurons could be activated from a wide number of stimulation sites on the ONL, with distances exceeding their known dendritic spreads and the dispersion of nerve fibers within the ONL, indicating that multisynaptic pathways must also exist at the glomerular region. All types of interneurons also responded to odorant stimulation, showing a variety of responses. 3. Granule cells responded to electrical stimulation of the LOT and ONL as reported previously. However, intracellular potential, excitability, and conductance analysis suggested that the mitral cell-mediated excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) is followed by a long inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP). An early negative potential, before the EPSP, was also observed in every granule cell and correlated with component I of the extracellular LOT-induced field potential. We have interpreted this negativity as a "field effect," that may be diagnostic of granule cells. 4. Most granule cells exhibited excitatory responses to odorant stimulation. Odors could produce spiking responses that were either nonhabituating (response to every sniff) or rapidly habituating (response to first sniff only). Other granule cells, while spiking to electrical stimulation, showed depolarizations that did not evoke spikes to odor stimulation. These depolarizations were transient with each sniff or sustained across a series of sniffs. These physiological differences to odor stimulation correlated with granule cell position beneath the mitral cell layer for 12 cells, suggesting that morphological subtypes of granule cells may show physiological differences. Some features of the granule cell odor responses seem to correlate with some of the features we have observed in mitral/tufted cell intracellular recordings. Only one cell showed inhibition to odors. 5. Periglomerular (PG) cells showed a response to ONL stimulation that was unlike that found in other olfactory bulb neurons. There was a long-duration hyperpolarization after a spike and large depolarization or burst of spikes (20-30 ms in duration). Odor stimulation produced simple bursts of action potentials, Odor stimulation produced simple bursts of action potentials, suggesting that PG cells may simply follow input from the olfactory nerve.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


2005 ◽  
Vol 94 (6) ◽  
pp. 3743-3750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brady J. Maher ◽  
Gary L. Westbrook

Small-conductance calcium-activated potassium channels (SK) regulate dendritic excitability in many neurons. In the olfactory bulb, regulation of backpropagating action potentials and dendrodendritic inhibition depend on the dendritic excitability of mitral cells. We report here that SK channel currents are present in mitral cells but are not detectable in granule cells in the olfactory bulb. In brain slices from PND 14–21 mice, long step depolarizations (100 ms) in the mitral cell soma evoked a cadmium- and apamin-sensitive outward SK current lasting several hundred milliseconds. Block of the SK current unmasked an inward N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) autoreceptor current due to glutamate released from mitral cell dendrites. In low extracellular Mg2+ (100 μM), brief step depolarizations (2 ms) evoked an apamin-sensitive current that was reduced by d,l-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid. In current- clamp, block of SK channels increased action potential firing in mitral cells as well as dendrodendritic inhibition. Our results indicate that SK channels can be activated either by calcium channels or NMDA channels in mitral cell dendrites, providing a mechanism for local control of dendritic excitability.


1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 345-355 ◽  
Author(s):  
Changping Jia ◽  
Wei R. Chen ◽  
Gordon M. Shepherd

Jia, Changping, Wei R. Chen, and Gordon M. Shepherd. Synaptic organization and neurotransmitters in the rat accessory olfactory bulb. J. Neurophysiol. 81: 345–355, 1999. The accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) is the first relay station in the vomeronasal system and may play a critical role in processing pheromone signals. The AOB shows similar but less distinct lamination compared with the main olfactory bulb (MOB). In this study, synaptic organization of the AOB was analyzed in slice preparations from adult rats by using both field potential and patch-clamp recordings. Stimulation of the vomeronasal nerve (VN) evoked field potentials that showed characteristic patterns in different layers of the AOB. Current source density (CSD) analysis of the field potentials revealed spatiotemporally separated loci of inward current (sinks) that represented sequential activation of different neuronal components: VN activity (period I), synaptic excitation of mitral cell apical dendrites (period II), and activation of granule cells by mitral cell basal dendrites (period III). Stimulation of the lateral olfactory tract also evoked field potentials in the AOB, which indicated antidromic activation of the mitral cells (period I and II) followed by activation of granule cells (period III). Whole cell patch recordings from mitral and granule cells of the AOB supported that mitral cells are excited by VN terminals and subsequently activate granule cells through dendrodendritic synapses. Both CSD analysis and patch recordings provided evidence that glutamate is the neurotransmitter at the vomeronasal receptor neuron; mitral cell synapses and both NMDA and non-NMDA receptors are involved. We also demonstrated electrophysiologically that reciprocal interaction between mitral and granule cells in the AOB is through the dendrodendritic reciprocal synapses. The neurotransmitter at the mitral-to-granule synapses is glutamate and at the granule-to-mitral synapse is γ-aminobutyric acid. The synaptic interactions among receptor cell terminals, mitral cells, and granule cells in the AOB are therefore similar to those in the MOB, suggesting that processing of chemosensory information in the AOB shares similarities with that in the MOB.


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