Action potential initiation and propagation in a branching dendritic model of a CA3 pyramidal neuron

Authors

  • Jobeth Gazmen Martecio Department of Physical Sciences, University of the Philippines Baguio
  • Bhazel Anne Rara Pelicano Philippine Science High School Cordillera Administrative Region Campus

Abstract

In this study, the signal transmission and the spiking patterns of a CA3 pyramidal neuron were simulated through a 69-compartment model with branching dendritic structure. For the simulation, we numerically solved coupled first-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations using fourth order Runge-Kutta method with step size of 2.5 x 10-3 ms. By introducing varying steady current into the soma, action potentials (APs) were induced. Results reveal two main firing properties of CA3 pyramidal neuron: spike frequency adaptation and intrinsic bursting. Results also show AP is initiated in the axon-initial segment and propagated retrogradely (backpropagation) into the dendrites. APs propagated in the axon displayed no attenuation while APs backpropagated in dendrites demonstrated decrease in amplitude and increase in spike duration. The calculated backprogation ratio, (15.6±0.18 x 10-2), suggests that backpropagating APs underwent significant attenuation.

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Article ID

SPP-2018-2C-02

Section

Computational Physics and Simulations

Published

2018-05-11

How to Cite

[1]
JG Martecio and BAR Pelicano, Action potential initiation and propagation in a branching dendritic model of a CA3 pyramidal neuron, Proceedings of the Samahang Pisika ng Pilipinas 36, SPP-2018-2C-02 (2018). URL: https://proceedings.spp-online.org/article/view/SPP-2018-2C-02.