Pulse-frequency-dependent resonance in a population of pyramidal neuron models

• Published in: Biological cybernetics Vol. 116; no. 3; pp. 363 - 375
• Main Authors: Mori, Ryosuke, Mino, Hiroyuki, Durand, Dominique M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2022; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Action Potentials - physiology; Bioinformatics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedicine; Complex Systems; Computer Appl. in Life Sciences; Computer Simulation; Cybernetics; Deep brain stimulation; Electrical stimuli; Engineering; Firing pattern; Frequency dependence; Hypotheses; Information processing; Mathematical models; Models, Neurological; Neurobiology; Neurons; Neurons - physiology; Neurosciences; Original Article; Partial differential equations; Population; Potassium; Pyramidal Cells - physiology; Random noise; Resonance; Signal to noise ratio; Stimulation; Stochastic Processes; Stochastic resonance; Stochasticity; Numerical method; Stochastic resonance; Deep brain stimulation; Mutual information
• ISSN: 0340-1200; 1432-0770
• DOI: 10.1007/s00422-022-00925-w

Stochastic resonance is known as a phenomenon whereby information transmission of weak signal or subthreshold stimuli can be enhanced by additive random noise with a suitable intensity. Another phenomenon induced by applying deterministic pulsatile electric stimuli with a pulse frequency, commonly used for deep brain stimulation (DBS), was also shown to improve signal-to-noise ratio in neuron models. The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that pulsatile high-frequency stimulation could improve the detection of both sub- and suprathreshold synaptic stimuli by tuning the frequency of the stimulation in a population of pyramidal neuron models. Computer simulations showed that mutual information estimated from a population of neural spike trains displayed a typical resonance curve with a peak value of the pulse frequency at 80–120 Hz, similar to those utilized for DBS in clinical situations. It is concluded that a “pulse-frequency-dependent resonance” (PFDR) can enhance information transmission over a broad range of synaptically connected networks. Since the resonance frequency matches that used clinically, PFDR could contribute to the mechanism of the therapeutic effect of DBS.