Sensory gating and its modulation by cannabinoids: electrophysiological, computational and mathematical analysis

Zachariou, Margarita; Dissanayake, Dilshani W N; Coombes, Stephen; Owen, Markus R.; Mason, Robert

Abstract

Gating of sensory information can be assessed using an auditory conditioning-test paradigm which measures the reduction in the auditory evoked response to a test stimulus following an initial conditioning stimulus. Recording brainwaves from specific areas of the brain using multiple electrodes is helpful in the study of the neurobiology of sensory gating. In this paper, we use such technology to investigate the role of cannabinoids in sensory gating in the CA3 region of the rat hippocampus. Our experimental results show that application of the exogenous cannabinoid agonist WIN55,212-2 can abolish sensory gating. We have developed a phenomenological model of cannabinoid dynamics incorporated within a spiking neural network model of CA3 with synaptically interacting pyramidal and basket cells. Direct numerical simulations of this model suggest that
the basic mechanism for this effect can be traced to the suppression of inhibition of slow GABAB synapses. Furthermore, by working with a simpler mathematical firing rate model we are able to show the robustness of this mechanism for the abolition of sensory gating.

Citation

Zachariou, M., Dissanayake, D. W. N., Coombes, S., Owen, M. R., & Mason, R. (in press). Sensory gating and its modulation by cannabinoids: electrophysiological, computational and mathematical analysis. Cognitive Neurodynamics, 2, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-008-9050-4

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 6, 2008
• Online Publication Date: Apr 23, 2008
• Deposit Date: Apr 8, 2008
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 23, 2008
• Journal: Cognitive Neurodynamics
• Print ISSN: 1871-4080
• Electronic ISSN: 1871-4099
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 2
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-008-9050-4
• Keywords: sensory gating, cannabinoids, GABAB, firing rate models
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/704678
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11571-008-9050-4