Gain control by concerted changes in IA and IH conductances

Stability of intrinsic electrical activity and modulation of input-output gain are both important for neuronal information processing. It is therefore of interest to define biologically plausible parameters that allow these two features to coexist. Recent experiments indicate that in some biological neurons, the stability of spontaneous firing can arise from coregulated expression of the electrophysiologically opposing IA and I H currents. Here, I show that such balanced changes in IA and IH dramatically alter the slope of the relationship between the firing rate and driving current in a Hodgkin-Huxley-type model neuron. Concerted changes in IA and IH can thus control neuronal gain while preserving intrinsic activity. © 2005 Massachusetts Institute of Technology.