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NJIT Mathematical Biology Seminar

Tuesday, March 2, 2009, 4:00pm
Cullimore Hall 611
New Jersey Institute of Technology

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The effects of synaptic inputs on the activity of medial entorhinal cortex layer II stellate cell: Work in progress.

Dongwook Kim

Department of Mathematical Sciences, NJIT

Stellate cells of the medial entorhinal cortex (layer II) displays prominent intrinsic subthreshold oscillations at theta frequencies (4 - 12 Hz). These patterns are generated as the result of the interaction between a persistent sodium and a hyperpolarization-activated (h-) currents. Recent experimental results (Fernandez & White) show that when stellate cells receive Poisson distributed trains of combined excitatory and inhibitory synaptic conductance inputs, subthreshold oscillation are abolished, but they persist if they receive synaptic current inputs. In this talk we review these experimental results and discuss a modeling approach to understand the underlying biophysical mechanisms.