The beat goes on: Spontaneous firing in mammalian neuronal microcircuits

Michael Häusser, Indira M. Raman, Thomas Otis, Spencer L. Smith, Alexandra Nelson, Sascha Du Lac, Yonatan Loewenstein, Séverine Mahon, Cyriel Pennartz, Ivan Cohen, Yosef Yarom

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

53 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although spontaneous firing was originally described decades ago, investigation of its underlying molecular and biophysical mechanisms and awareness of its potential functional consequences has seen a dramatic resurgence in the past few years. This is attributable to development of new techniques for investigating channel function in isolated neurons (cloning, identification, and localization of ion channels that underlie spontaneous activity) and systems approaches for understanding the contribution of single neurons to network function. Results emerging from these techniques have led to a growing consensus that spontaneous firing is not only a prominent feature of many neuronal networks but may also serve useful functional roles, contributing to regulating information flow in different microcircuits in the brain.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)9215-9219
Number of pages5
JournalJournal of Neuroscience
Volume24
Issue number42
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 20 2004
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Action potential
  • Cerebellum
  • Channel
  • Hippocampus
  • Neuromodulation
  • Pacemaker

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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