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@misc{cogprints8, volume = {75}, number = {1}, title = {On the origins of aperiodicities in sensory neuron entrainment}, author = {Heather L Read and Ralph M Siegel}, year = {1996}, pages = {301--314}, journal = {Neuroscience}, keywords = {sensory, neuron, irregular, synchronous, asynchronous, dynamic, entrainment}, url = {http://cogprints.org/8/}, abstract = {Aperiodic entrainment to rhythmic sensory input was obtained with either a single neuron or an excitatory network model, without addition of a stochastic or "noisy" element. The entrainment properties of primary sensory neurons were well captured by the dynamics of the Hodgkin-Huxley ordinary differential equations with a quiescent resting state or threshold for spike output. The frequency-amplitude parameter space was compressed and aperiodic regimes were small in comparison to those of periodically activated pacemaker like neurons. Transitions between phase-locked and aperiodic entrainment patterns were predictable and determined by the equation dynamics; supporting the contention that some aperiodicities observed \$\{in\}\$ \$\{situ\}\$ arise from the inherent membrane properties of neurons. When the rhythmically activated neuron was embedded in an excitatory network of Hodgkin-Huxley neurons with heterogeneous synaptic delays, aperiodic entrainment patterns were more frequently encountered and these were associated with asynchronous output from the network. Embedding the rhythmically activated neuron in a network with synaptic delays, greatly reduced the range of entrained spike frequencies. Other biological mechanisms of modifying the entrainment properties and promoting aperiodic entrainment are discussed.} }