Computational model for the bushy cell of the cochlear nucleus

Abstract A model of the cochlear nucleus bushy cell, adapted from Rothman, Young and Manis (J. Neurophysiol. 70 (1993) 2562–2583), was implemented using GENESIS. The model had one compartment that included Na + ( G Na ) and low- and high-threshold K + channels ( G KLT and G KHT ). When G KLT was set to zero, the model cell's response to a current step changed from onset to regular sustained. When G KHT (representing Kv3.1) was reduced, the action potential became wider. The present model results support the view that the specialized functional properties of the bushy cell, i.e., fast membrane time constant, onset discharges and entrainment to high-rate pulse train, are produced by combined actions of the G KLT , G KHT and G Na channels, and that these channels adapted to optimize the bushy cell's precise temporal-encoding ability.