A Critical Comparison between Spike-Train Responses of Integrate-and-Fire and Hodgkin-Huxley Neurons

Spike-train responses of single integrate-and-fire (IF) neurons with and without the refractory period, are compared with those of a Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) neuron. The HH and IF neurons are assumed to receive spike-train inputs with the constant interspike intervals (ISIs) and stochatic ISIs given by the Gamma distribution, through excitatory synaptic couplings. It is shown that the response to the constant-ISI inputs of the IF neuron strongly depends on the refractory period and the synaptic-input strength and that its response is rather different from that of the HH neuron. The variability of HH and IF neurons depends not only on the jitter of the stochastic inputs but also on their mean and the synaptic-input strength. The type-I IF neuron may be a good substitute of the type-II HH neuron only in the limited parameter range. PACS No. 87.19.La, 87.10.+e e-mail: hasegawa@u-gakugei.ac.jp