Simulation techniques for localising and identifying the kinetics of calcium channels in dendritic neurones

Abstract The present simulations were designed to determine whether the current–voltage (I–V) relationship obtained during voltage clamp was sufficient to characterise the kinetics and distribution of dendritic Ca2+ channels in spinal motoneurones. Two models were constructed, one based on a fully reconstructed adult cat motoneurone (neuromorphic model) the second a reduced two-compartment motoneurone model. The current–voltage (I–V) relationship in the neuromorphic model was used as a template to evaluate the I–V behaviour of the reduced model while simulating changes in location and kinetics of the calcium channels. The results show that the discriminative quality of the reduced model is low and the neuromorphic model remains the better qualitative match to the eletrophysiological results.