Model- and scale-independent performance of a hippocampal CA3 network architecture

The hippocampus is known to be a critical structure for memory function, but how its anatomical, physiological, and cellular elements endow it with this function remains a mystery. As such, even less is known about how neuropathological changes associated with Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy or traumatic brain injury lead to the clinical manifestations of disease. To begin to address these issues, we have constructed a biophysically-detailed model of the CA3 region of the hippocampus that incorporates many of the well-characterized but, from a functional standpoint, poorly understood properties and phenomena into a functioning network. These include cholinergic neuromodulatory regulation, theta (4-6 Hz) oscillations, gamma (20-80 Hz) oscillations, diversity of interneuron classes, regular spiking vs. bursting pyramidal cells, and lamina-specific inputs and characteristic anatomy. We have found that the integration of these hippocampal elements results in a biological analog to the "conne..