, 2003). In short, the STA is sufficient to distinguish integrator and coincidence detector operating modes and it can be used to qualitatively predict the shape of the CCG for pairs of neurons operating in either mode, but higher-order stimulus properties such as the STC become important

in the case of coincidence detectors and provide quantitatively more accurate predictions. Previous discussions of operating mode have emphasized how neurons process their input. But to explain synchrony transfer, we must also consider how neurons produce their output and, moreover, we must consider the output of multiple neurons in order to measure output synchrony. This would this website seem to require the Kinase Inhibitor Library manufacturer difficult task of recording simultaneously from all the neurons whose output is to be cross-correlated; however, by replaying the same simulated synaptic input signal (along with different noise), one can collect many spike trains from individually recorded neurons and then cross-correlate their responses after alignment based on the common signal

(de la Rocha et al., 2007; Hong et al., 2012; Reyes, 2003). We refer to this as a virtual network approach since the neurons, although not part of the same “real” network, are stimulated and analyzed as if they are part of the same “virtual” network. Notably, the input synchrony and the fraction of input that is shared across neurons are not only known, they are controlled by the experimenter. This approach

is therefore very useful for studying how and why synchrony transfer differs between operating modes. Synchronous spiking across a set of neurons requires that spike timing within each constituent neuron is temporally precise in relation to the input. Rapidly fluctuating input—the sort arising from presynaptic synchrony—drives however more precisely timed spikes than constant or slowly fluctuating input (Bryant and Segundo, 1976; Cecchi et al., 2000; Galán et al., 2008; Mainen and Sejnowski, 1995; Nowak et al., 1997). Those data demonstrate that spike timing can be precise on the basis of input and thus support a stimulus-centric definition of operating mode (Schultze-Kraft et al., 2013), but neuronal properties are nonetheless critical. By being less sensitive to mean stimulus intensity, coincidence detectors exhibit better spike-timing precision than integrators firing at an equivalent average rate (Prescott et al., 2006; Prescott and Sejnowski, 2008). Indeed, several studies have linked stronger outward membrane current with increased precision (Berry and Meister, 1998; Billimoria et al., 2006; Schreiber et al., 2004; Svirskis and Rinzel, 2003), whereas inward currents or slowly inactivating outward currents have the opposite effect (Barreiro et al., 2012; Cudmore et al., 2010; Fricker and Miles, 2000).