Beyond Spike Timing Theory – Thermodynamics of Neuronal Computation

This paper highlights ionic fluxes as information carriers in neurons. The theoretical framework regarding information transfer is presented as changes in the thermodynamic entropy that underlie specific computations determined by ionic flow. The removal or accumulation of information is analyzed in terms of ionic mass transfer related with changes in Shannon information entropy. Specifically, information transfer occurs during an action potential (AP) via the voltage gated ion channels in membranes and the same physical mechanism can be extended to various types of synapses. Since sequential APs from a selected neuron are not alike, then every spike may transfer slightly different amounts of information during their occurrence. The average efficiency in information transfer during APs is estimated using mutual information measures and Hodgkin-Huxley model. This general scheme of ions as carriers of information represents the required physical machinery for a dynamic information transfer that is missing in the current spike-timing description.

[1]  Zurek,et al.  Algorithmic randomness and physical entropy. , 1989, Physical review. A, General physics.

[2]  Wulfram Gerstner,et al.  SPIKING NEURON MODELS Single Neurons , Populations , Plasticity , 2002 .

[3]  D. H. Paul,et al.  Spontaneous activity of cerebellar Purkinje cells and their responses to impulses in climbing fibres , 1971, The Journal of physiology.

[4]  Dorian Aur,et al.  Computing Information in Neuronal Spikes , 2006, Neural Processing Letters.

[5]  R. Landauer,et al.  Irreversibility and heat generation in the computing process , 1961, IBM J. Res. Dev..

[6]  Rob R. de Ruyter van Steveninck,et al.  The metabolic cost of neural information , 1998, Nature Neuroscience.

[7]  C. Bell,et al.  Discharge properties of Purkinje cells recorded on single and double microelectrodes. , 1969, Journal of Neurophysiology.

[8]  Dorian Aur,et al.  Building spike representation in tetrodes , 2006, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[9]  M. Häusser,et al.  Tonic Synaptic Inhibition Modulates Neuronal Output Pattern and Spatiotemporal Synaptic Integration , 1997, Neuron.

[10]  Wolfgang Maass,et al.  Networks of Spiking Neurons: The Third Generation of Neural Network Models , 1996, Electron. Colloquium Comput. Complex..

[11]  Charles J. Wilson,et al.  Intrinsic Membrane Properties Underlying Spontaneous Tonic Firing in Neostriatal Cholinergic Interneurons , 2000, The Journal of Neuroscience.

[12]  Bruce R. Rosen,et al.  Activation and Habituation in Olfaction—An fMRI Study , 2001, NeuroImage.

[13]  Anthony J. G. Hey,et al.  Feynman Lectures on Computation , 1996 .

[14]  William Bialek,et al.  Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code , 1996 .

[15]  Dorian Aur,et al.  Computing spike directivity with tetrodes , 2005, Journal of Neuroscience Methods.

[16]  L. Abbott,et al.  Synaptic computation , 2004, Nature.

[17]  B. Cerf-Ducastel,et al.  FMRI brain activation in response to odors is reduced in primary olfactory areas of elderly subjects , 2003, Brain Research.

[18]  Thomas M. Cover,et al.  Elements of Information Theory , 2005 .

[19]  Kazimierz Sobczyk,et al.  Information dynamics : Premises, challenges and results , 2001 .

[20]  R. Gray.  Entropy and Information Theory , 1990, Springer New York.

[21]  Dorian Aur,et al.  Reading the Neural Code: What do Spikes Mean for Behavior? , 2007 .

[22]  Wofgang Maas,et al.  Networks of spiking neurons: the third generation of neural network models , 1997 .

[23]  A. Graybiel,et al.  Activity of striatal neurons reflects dynamic encoding and recoding of procedural memories , 2005, Nature.

[24]  Dorian Aur,et al.  Neuronal spatial learning , 2007, Neural Processing Letters.

[25]  L. Brillouin,et al.  Science and information theory , 1956 .

[26]  C. E. SHANNON,et al.  A mathematical theory of communication , 1948, MOCO.

[27]  M. Alexander,et al.  Principles of Neural Science , 1981 .

[28]  M. Bennett,et al.  Electrical Coupling and Neuronal Synchronization in the Mammalian Brain , 2004, Neuron.

[29]  B L McNaughton,et al.  Dynamics of the hippocampal ensemble code for space. , 1993, Science.

[30]  Herbert G. Vaughan,et al.  A Neurophysiology of Mind , 1979 .