On duration and dopamine modulation of sustained activity in prefrontal cortex using conductance-based network models

摘要

We investigate the cellular mechanisms underlying the generation, duration, and dopaminergic modulation of working-memory sustained activity in prefrontal cortex by means of computational modeling. We use a conductance-based network model endowed with all relevant prefrontal cortex conductances found in the experimental literature, considering two-population-networks with AMPA-, NMDA-, and GABA-like synaptic connections. We study dopamine modulation by means of a mechanism in which delay-period activity is modulated locally by dopaminergic levels. These levels in turn are modulated by local neuronal activity and afferent and external inputs.