Computational Investigation of Role of Active Conductances in Information Processing in Striatal Medium Spiny Neurons

摘要

The nucleus accumbens (NAcc) constitutes the major subdivision of the ventral striatum and it plays an important role in the reward circuit. It is also considered as the major site of action for many drugs of abuse. Majority of neurons in NAcc are GABAergic Medium Spiny Neurons (MSNs). Dendrites of these neurons express several active conductances which may modulate their input-output relations. One candidate for this modulation is the inward rectifying potassium (K_(IR)) current, which is active in the sub-threshold region. The K_(IR) and K_(AF) currents seem to exert a major constraint on the integration window of the MSNs, such that action potentials are generated only when inputs are activated within a narrow latency, requiring greater synchrony of inputs for excitation.