Biomedical subjects

Toshio Aoyagi

Publications and source records attributed to Toshio Aoyagi.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2003

Two-level hierarchy with sparsely and temporally coded patterns and its possible functional role in information processing.

We study the stability of two types of mixed states in an oscillator neural network model. Patterns to be stored are represented by complex variables whose amplitudes are either 0 (silent state) or 1 (firing state) and whose phases represent the timing of firing. The mixed states are defined in terms of a certain type of average over some specified number s of memory patterns. We define two types of such mixed states, each of which corresponds to a different type of restriction placed on this set of s memory patterns. The stability of each type is investigated both theoretically and numerically. We find that only one type of a mixed state, which consists of temporally correlated patterns, is stable. Finally, we discuss a possible functional role of such mixed states in information processing.

Mental Processes↗

PubMed2003

Synchrony of fast-spiking interneurons interconnected by GABAergic and electrical synapses.

Fast-spiking (FS) interneurons have specific types (Kv3.1/3.2 type) of the delayed potassium channel, which differ from the conventional Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) type potassium channel (Kv1.3 type) in several aspects. In this study, we show dramatic effects of the Kv3.1/3.2 potassium channel on the synchronization of the FS interneurons. We show analytically that two identical electrically coupled FS interneurons modeled with Kv3.1/3.2 channel fire synchronously at arbitrary firing frequencies, unlike similarly coupled FS neurons modeled with Kv1.3 channel that show frequency-dependent synchronous and antisynchronous firing states. Introducing GABA(A) receptor-mediated synaptic connections into an FS neuron pair tends to induce an antisynchronous firing state, even if the chemical synapses are bidirectional. Accordingly, an FS neuron pair connected simultaneously by electrical and chemical synapses achieves both synchronous firing state and antisynchronous firing state in a physiologically plausible range of the conductance ratio between electrical and chemical synapses. Moreover, we find that a large-scale network of FS interneurons connected by gap junctions and bidirectional GABAergic synapses shows similar bistability in the range of gamma frequencies (30-70 Hz).

Action Potentials↗

PubMed2003

Gamma rhythmic bursts: coherence control in networks of cortical pyramidal neurons.

Much evidence indicates that synchronized gamma-frequency (20-70 Hz) oscillation plays a significant functional role in the neocortex and hippocampus. Chattering neuron is a possible neocortical pacemaker for the gamma oscillation. Based on our recent model of chattering neurons, here we study how gamma-frequency bursting is synchronized in a network of these neurons. Using a phase oscillator description, we first examine how two coupled chattering neurons are synchronized. The analysis reveals that an incremental change of the bursting mode, such as from singlet to doublet, always accompanies a rapid transition from antisynchronous to synchronous firing. The state transition occurs regardless of what changes the bursting mode. Within each bursting mode, the neuronal activity undergoes a gradual change from synchrony to antisynchrony. Since the sensitivity to Ca(2+) and the maximum conductance of Ca(2+)-dependent cationic current as well as the intensity of input current systematically control the bursting mode, these quantities may be crucial for the regulation of the coherence of local cortical activity. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the modulations of the calcium sensitivity and the amplitude of the cationic current can induce rapid transitions between synchrony and asynchrony in a large-scale network of chattering neurons. The rapid synchronization of chattering neurons is shown to synchronize the activities of regular spiking pyramidal neurons at the gamma frequencies, as may be necessary for selective attention or binding processing in object recognition.

Action Potentials↗