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Published June 2004 | public
Journal Article

Multiplication and stimulus invariance in a looming-sensitive neuron

Abstract

Multiplicative operations and invariance of neuronal responses are thought to play important roles in the processing of neural information in many sensory systems. Yet the biophysical mechanisms that underlie both multiplication and invariance of neuronal responses in vivo, either at the single cell or at the network level, remain to a large extent unknown. Recent work on an identified neuron in the locust visual system (the LGMD neuron) that responds well to objects looming on a collision course towards the animal suggests that this cell represents a good model to investigate the biophysical basis of multiplication and invariance at the single neuron level. Experimental and theoretical results are consistent with multiplication being implemented by subtraction of two logarithmic terms followed by exponentiation via active membrane conductances, according to a×1/b=exp(log(a)−log(b)). Invariance appears to be in part due to non-linear integration of synaptic inputs within the dendritic tree of this neuron.

Additional Information

Copyright © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. This work was supported by the Sloan Foundation, the National Institute of Mental Health (F.G., C.K.), the National Institute for Deafness and Communication Disorders (G.L.), the McKnight Foundation (G.L.) and the Center for Neuromorphic Engineering as part of the NSF Engineering Research Center programme. H.G.K. was supported by a travel grant of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft. F.G. is an Alfred P. Sloan research fellow.

Additional details

Created:
September 15, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023