Identifying the components of a postsynaptic potential and their amplitude, latency and shape fluctuations: analysis by means of autocovariance functions and a stochastic infinite cable model

In addition to amplitude fluctuations, physiological mechanisms may introduce latency and shape fluctuations in the components of a postsynaptic potential (PSP). Latency fluctuations may be originated mainly by presynaptic factors. Shape fluctuations may be produced by changes in the background synaptic activity received by the postsynaptic neuron, which affect the cell membrane resistance. This article aims to develop a unified approach for the analysis of amplitude, latency and shape fluctuations in the components of a PSP. The analysis is based on: (i) the Autocovariance Functions of the PSP (ACOVs); (ii) a mathematical model able to predict the average and ACOVs of a PSP with specified components and fluctuations (the 'Stochastic Infinite Cable Model' (SICM)); and (iii) a procedure to estimate the SICM parameters that best reproduce the average and ACOVs of a given PSP (the 'SICM-based PSP identification procedure' (SICM-IP)). The SICM-IP is tested with simulated PSPs. The results obtained support the feasibility of the approach.

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