Gamma frequency synchronization in a local cortical network model

Abstract In this modeling study, we show the combined effects of gap junctions and GABAergic synapses on the synchronous firing in networks of fast-spiking (FS) interneurons. We found analytically that two identical electrically coupled FS interneurons fire synchronously at arbitrary firing frequencies, whereas an FS neuron pair coupled through GABAergic synapses show asynchronous firing. Accordingly, an FS neuron pair connected simultaneously by electrical and chemical synapses achieves both synchronous and anti-synchronous firing state in a physiologically plausible range of the conductance ratio between electrical and chemical synapses. We also investigate how two identical oscillator units composed of a regular-spiking pyramidal neuron and an FS interneuron may cooperatively fire at several phase-locked states.

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