Temperature Effects on Chemically Coupled Neurons

Publication Date

4-6-2018

Document Type

Poster

Department

Physics

Mentor

Epaminondas Rosa

Mentor Department

Physics

Co-Mentor

Rosangela Follmann

Co-Mentor Department

Physics

Abstract

In this presentation, we discuss the results of computer simulations mimicking the effects of reciprocal inhibitory coupling in pairs of neurons subject to varying temperatures. The neurons are connected via metabotropic synapses and for a strong enough coupling one of the neurons stops firing while the other returns to its original firing status. We study the case of two different neurons, one tonic (continued spiking at a fixed firing rate) and another bursting (sequences of spikes followed by a period of quiescence), firing at different rates and regimes, and analyze the effects of increasing temperature on their behavior. The two parameters of interest in here are coupling strength and temperature. We observe that as temperature increases, the coupling strength required to prevent one of the neurons from firing also increases. This is as expected because it is known that in general, neurons fire more rapidly at higher temperatures. The study is of relevance to the understanding of the stability of neurological systems subject to temperature changes which includes networks responsible for vital rhythmic functions such as mastication, walking and breathing.

Comments

Harraman-undergraduate

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