Abstract

A train of action potentials (a spike train) can carry information in both the average firing rate and the pattern of spikes in the train. But can such a spike-pattern code be supported by cortical circuits? Neurons in vitro produce a spike pattern in response to the injection of a fluctuating current. However, cortical neurons in vivo are modulated by local oscillatory neuronal activity and by top-down inputs. In a cortical circuit, precise spike patterns thus reflect the interaction between internally generated activity and sensory information encoded by input spike trains. We review the evidence for precise and reliable spike timing in the cortex and discuss its computational role.

Author affiliations

1. Physics and Astronomy Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599-3255, USA.
2. Psychology and Applied Mathematics Departments, University of Arizona at Tucson, Arizona 85721-0068, USA.
3. Computational Neurobiology Laboratory and Howard Hughes Medical Institute at the Salk Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
4. Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, 92039-0348 USA.
   Email: tiesinga@physics.unc.edu
   Email: fellows@email.arizona.edu
   Email: terry@salk.edu

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.