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A biophysical account of multiplication by a single neuron

Author

Listed:
  • Lukas N. Groschner

    (Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology)

  • Jonatan G. Malis

    (Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology)

  • Birte Zuidinga

    (Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology)

  • Alexander Borst

    (Max Planck Institute of Neurobiology)

Abstract

Nonlinear, multiplication-like operations carried out by individual nerve cells greatly enhance the computational power of a neural system1–3, but our understanding of their biophysical implementation is scant. Here we pursue this problem in the Drosophila melanogaster ON motion vision circuit4,5, in which we record the membrane potentials of direction-selective T4 neurons and of their columnar input elements6,7 in response to visual and pharmacological stimuli in vivo. Our electrophysiological measurements and conductance-based simulations provide evidence for a passive supralinear interaction between two distinct types of synapse on T4 dendrites. We show that this multiplication-like nonlinearity arises from the coincidence of cholinergic excitation and release from glutamatergic inhibition. The latter depends on the expression of the glutamate-gated chloride channel GluClα8,9 in T4 neurons, which sharpens the directional tuning of the cells and shapes the optomotor behaviour of the animals. Interacting pairs of shunting inhibitory and excitatory synapses have long been postulated as an analogue approximation of a multiplication, which is integral to theories of motion detection10,11, sound localization12 and sensorimotor control13.

Suggested Citation

  • Lukas N. Groschner & Jonatan G. Malis & Birte Zuidinga & Alexander Borst, 2022. "A biophysical account of multiplication by a single neuron," Nature, Nature, vol. 603(7899), pages 119-123, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:603:y:2022:i:7899:d:10.1038_s41586-022-04428-3
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04428-3
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    Cited by:

    1. Johannes Bill & Samuel J. Gershman & Jan Drugowitsch, 2022. "Visual motion perception as online hierarchical inference," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-17, December.
    2. Burak Gür & Luisa Ramirez & Jacqueline Cornean & Freya Thurn & Sebastian Molina-Obando & Giordano Ramos-Traslosheros & Marion Silies, 2024. "Neural pathways and computations that achieve stable contrast processing tuned to natural scenes," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-18, December.
    3. Feifei Yang & Xikui Hu & Guodong Ren & Jun Ma, 2023. "Synchronization and patterns in a memristive network in noisy electric field," The European Physical Journal B: Condensed Matter and Complex Systems, Springer;EDP Sciences, vol. 96(6), pages 1-14, June.

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