grantor:
University of TorontoDifferent rhythmic activities in CA1 characterize the neuronal correlates of several behavioral states. Recently, in an in vitro preparation of the whole hippocampus, spontaneous slow rhythms (<4 Hz) similar to the hippocampal EEG seen in behaving animals, have been recorded. Based on the experimental data and by using numerical simulations, we suggest a mechanism in which feedback from populations of synchronized interneurons entrains an increasing and/or more synchronized activity in a spatially dynamic pyramidal cell population. In this scenario, two network properties, i.e. the number of the excitatory cells and the excitability of the interneurons, determine the frequency and robustness of these slow rhythms. Furthermore, using a stochastic phenomenological model, we show that in the face of a stochastic basal activity, these two properties enable the network to differentially amplify/suppress the modal structure of the emergent rhythmic activity, hence, act as a dynamically tunable resonant network.M.Sc
