The spontaneous neuron subject to tonic stimulation.

Abstract An examination of the consequences of several three-parameter models which have been proposed to account for the discharge patterns of spontaneous neurons has demonstrated that only one of these models is compatible, in detail, with the changes in regularity of discharge which have been observed in certain cells, as a function of intensity of tonic stimulation. This model involves an exponential (e − kt ) recovery of sensitivity, following discharge, and a “noise” process which is seemingly of large magnitude. It is suggested that the recovery process could be related to after-hyperpolarization; and that the noise may reside in extremely local (i.e. very small-scale) variations in membrane parameters. Two consequences of the model are derived: that the relationship between intensity of tonic input and frequency of discharge may be represented by either an exponential function or a logarithmic function, depending upon the initial state of the neuron; and that regularity of discharge is inversely related to sensitivity of the neuron to tonic stimulation.

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