Week 5: The Action Potential – Part 1 BIOL3833 Week 5: The Action Potential – Part 1
Agenda Today: Thursday: Brief lecture then complete Simulations/HW 1) Quick introduction to this week’s topic: The action potential 2) Finish simulations for HW2, Begin simulations for HW3 Thursday: Brief lecture then complete Simulations/HW
Bean, 2007, Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Action potentials carry information in the nervous system: Rate Pattern Waveform
Rate Coding in neural systems Encoding visual information in the brain:
Action potentials carry information in the nervous system:
Action potentials carry information in the nervous system: You will build cells that do this
Bean, 2007, Nature Reviews Neuroscience
Today we are interested in: What is threshold? (What determines when the cell fires) Understanding the dynamics of I V and G during the action potential What causes AHP? (how might this affect firing rate?) How is action potential width controlled? How do Na+ and K+ conductances shape firing patterns
Bean, 2007, Nature Reviews Neuroscience Different action potentials at different areas of the cell. Soma vs. Presynaptic terminal – right before the cell sends its signal to the next cell in line!!! Bean, 2007, Nature Reviews Neuroscience
gK=2 gK=1
INa = (Vm – ENa) x GNa
Right now: All we have is a cell that doesn’t encode much of anything