Search PubMed⌕ Search

Biomedical subjects

D Terman

Publications and source records attributed to D Terman.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Activity patterns in a model for the subthalamopallidal network of the basal ganglia.

Based on recent experimental data, we have developed a conductance-based computational network model of the subthalamic nucleus and the external segment of the globus pallidus in the indirect pathway of the basal ganglia. Computer simulations and analysis of this model illuminate the roles of the coupling architecture of the network, and associated synaptic conductances, in modulating the activity patterns displayed by this network. Depending on the relationships of these coupling parameters, the network can support three general classes of sustained firing patterns: clustering, propagating waves, and repetitive spiking that may show little regularity or correlation. Each activity pattern can occur continuously or in discrete episodes. We characterize the mechanisms underlying these rhythms, as well as the influence of parameters on details such as spiking frequency and wave speed. These results suggest that the subthalamopallidal circuit is capable both of correlated rhythmic activity and of irregular autonomous patterns of activity that block rhythmicity. Increased striatal input to, and weakened intrapallidal inhibition within, the indirect pathway can switch the behavior of the circuit from irregular to rhythmic. This may be sufficient to explain the emergence of correlated oscillatory activity in the subthalamopallidal circuit after destruction of dopaminergic neurons in Parkinson's disease and in animal models of parkinsonism.

Action Potentials↗

Analysis of clustered firing patterns in synaptically coupled networks of oscillators.

Oscillators in networks may display a variety of activity patterns. This paper presents a geometric singular perturbation analysis of clustering, or alternate firing of synchronized subgroups, among synaptically coupled oscillators. We consideroscillators in two types of networks: mutually coupled, with all-to-all inhibitory connections, and globally inhibitory, with one excitatory and one inhibitory population of oscillators, each of arbitrary size. Our analysis yields existence and stability conditions for clustered states, along with formulas for the periods of such firing patterns. By using two different approaches, we derive complementary conditions, the first set stated in terms of time lengths determined by intrinsic and synaptic properties of the oscillators and their coupling and the second set stated in terms of model parameters and phase space structures directly linked to parameters. These results suggest how biological components may interact to produce the spindle sleep rhythm in thalamocortical networks.

Cluster Analysis↗

Geometric analysis of population rhythms in synaptically coupled neuronal networks.

We develop geometric dynamical systems methods to determine how various components contribute to a neuronal network's emergent population behaviors. The results clarify the multiple roles inhibition can play in producing different rhythms. Which rhythms arise depends on how inhibition interacts with intrinsic properties of the neurons; the nature of these interactions depends on the underlying architecture of the network. Our analysis demonstrates that fast inhibitory coupling may lead to synchronized rhythms if either the cells within the network or the architecture of the network is sufficiently complicated. This cannot occur in mutually coupled networks with basic cells; the geometric approach helps explain how additional network complexity allows for synchronized rhythms in the presence of fast inhibitory coupling. The networks and issues considered are motivated by recent models for thalamic oscillations. The analysis helps clarify the roles of various biophysical features, such as fast and slow inhibition, cortical inputs, and ionic conductances, in producing network behavior associated with the spindle sleep rhythm and with paroxysmal discharge rhythms. Transitions between these rhythms are also discussed.

Cerebral Cortex↗

Propagating activity patterns in large-scale inhibitory neuronal networks.

The propagation of activity is studied in a spatially structured network model of gamma-aminobutyric acid-containing (GABAergic) neurons exhibiting postinhibitory rebound. In contrast to excitatory-coupled networks, recruitment spreads very slowly because cells fire only after the postsynaptic conductance decays, and with two possible propagation modes. If the connection strength decreases monotonically with distance (on-center), then propagation occurs in a discontinuous manner. If the self- and nearby connections are absent (off-center), propagation can proceed smoothly. Modest changes in the synaptic reversal potential can result in depolarization-mediated waves that are 25 times faster. Functional and developmental roles for these behaviors and implications for thalamic circuitry are suggested.

Feedback↗

Image segmentation based on oscillatory correlation.

We study the image segmentation on the basis of locally excitatory, globally inhibitory oscillator networks (LEGION), whereby the phases of oscillators encode the binding of pixels. We introduce a lateral potential for each oscillators so that only oscillators with strong connections from their neighborhood can develop high potentials. Based on the concept of the lateral potential, a solution to remove noisy regions in an image is proposed for LEGION, so that it suppresses the oscillators corresponding to noisy regions but without affecting those corresponding to major regions. We show that the resulting oscillator network separates an image into several major regions, plus a background consisting of all noisy regions, and we illustrate network properties by computer stimulation. The network exhibits a natural capacity in segmenting images. The oscillatory dynamics leads to a computer algorithm, which is applied successfully to segmenting real gray-level images. A number of issues regarding biological plausibility and perceptual organization are discussed. We argue that LEGION provides a novel and effective framework for image segmentation and figure-ground segregation.

Algorithms↗

Functional reorganization in thalamocortical networks: transition between spindling and delta sleep rhythms.

Thalamic reticularis, thalamocortical, and cortical cells participate in the 7-14-hz spindling rhythm of early sleep and the slower delta rhythms of deeper sleep, with different firing patterns. In this case study, showing the interactions of intrinsic and synaptic properties, a change in the conductance of one kind of cell effectively rewires the thalamocortical circuit, leading to the transition from the spindling to the delta rhythm. The two rhythms make different uses of the fast (GABAA) and slow (GABAB) inhibition generated by the thalamic reticularis cells.

Cerebral Cortex↗

Localized bumps of activity sustained by inhibition in a two-layer thalamic network.

Based on head direction experiments in rats, the existence of localized bumps of thalamic activity has been proposed. We computationally demonstrate the existence of a novel class of localized bump solutions in a two-layer conductance-based thalamic network and analyze the mechanisms behind these stable patterns. In contrast to previous models of bump activity, here inhibition plays a crucial role in initially spreading neuronal firing and in subsequently sustaining it. In our model, we incorporate local strong, fast GABA(A) inhibition and diffuse weak, slow GABA(B) inhibition, based on previous biophysical experiments. These forms of inhibition contribute in different, yet complementary, ways to the observed pattern formation.

Animals↗