Analysis of intrinsic properties in a multidimensional parameter space

Adam L. Taylor and Eve Marder

What is the mapping between the maximal conductances of a neuron and its
functional properties?  We examined this question using a
multicompartmental model of a neuron in the stomatogastric ganglion of
the crab Cancer borealis.  Neurons in this system can exhibit a variety
of different behaviors, including intrinsic bursting.  Which behavior a
particular neuron exhibits is determined by the particular mix of
maximal conductances in that neuron and by the presence or absence of
various neuromodulators.  We examined how varying the different maximal
conductances changed such emergent quantities as the burst period, the
burst duty cycle, and the number of spikes per burst.  Understanding how
the maximal conductances relate to behaviorally important quantities
provides a basis for understanding what conductances may be coregulated
by homeostatic mechanisms and by neuromodulation.