The Effects of Spontaneous Random Activity on Information Transmission in an Auditory Brain Stem Neuron Model

Entropy

关键词: fluctuation;    stochastic Hodgkin–Huxley model;    filtered Poisson process;    second-order auditory neuron;    information rates;    computer simulation;   

DOI  :  10.3390/e16126654

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

This paper presents the effects of spontaneous random activity on information transmission in an auditory brain stem neuron model. In computer simulations, the supra-threshold synaptic current stimuli ascending from auditory nerve fibers (ANFs) were modeled by a filtered inhomogeneous Poisson process modulated by sinusoidal functions at a frequency of 220–3520 Hz with regard to the human speech spectrum. The stochastic sodium and stochastic high- and low-threshold potassium channels were incorporated into a single compartment model of the soma in spherical bushy neurons, so as to realize threshold fluctuations or a variation of spike firing times. The results show that the information rates estimated from the entropy of inter-spike intervals of spike trains tend toward a convex function of the spontaneous rates when the intensity of sinusoidal functions decreases. Furthermore, the results show that a convex function of the spontaneous rates tends to disappear as the frequency of the sinusoidal function increases, such that the phase-locked response can be unobserved. It is concluded that this sort of stochastic resonance (SR) phenomenon, which depends on the spontaneous rates with supra-threshold stimuli, can better enhance information transmission in a smaller intensity of sinusoidal functions within the human speech spectrum, like the situation in which the regular SR can enhance weak signals.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland