Consequences of Converting Graded to Action Potentials upon Neural Information Coding and Energy Efficiency

Information is encoded in neural circuits using both graded and action potentials, converting between them within single neurons and successive processing layers. This conversion is accompanied by information loss and a drop in energy efficiency. We investigate the biophysical causes of this loss of information and efficiency by comparing spiking neuron models, containing stochastic voltage-gated Na+ and K+ channels, with generator potential and graded potential models lacking voltage-gated Na+ channels. We identify three causes of information loss in the generator potential that are the by-product of action potential generation: (1) the voltage-gated Na+ channels necessary for action potential generation increase intrinsic noise and (2) introduce non-linearities, and (3) the finite duration of the action potential creates a ‘footprint’ in the generator potential that obscures incoming signals. These three processes reduce information rates by ∼50% in generator potentials, to ∼3 times that of spike trains. Both generator potentials and graded potentials consume almost an order of magnitude less energy per second than spike trains. Because of the lower information rates of generator potentials they are substantially less energy efficient than graded potentials. However, both are an order of magnitude more efficient than spike trains due to the higher energy costs and low information content of spikes, emphasizing that there is a two-fold cost of converting analogue to digital; information loss and cost inflation.Author Summary: As in electronics, many of the brain's neural circuits convert continuous time signals into a discrete-time binary code. Although some neurons use only graded voltage signals, most convert these signals into discrete-time action potentials. Yet the costs and benefits associated with such a switch in signalling mechanism are largely unexplored. We investigate why the conversion of graded potentials to action potentials is accompanied by substantial information loss and how this changes energy efficiency. Action potentials are generated by a large cohort of noisy Na+ channels. We show that this channel noise and the added non-linearity of Na+ channels destroy input information provided by graded generator potentials. Furthermore, action potentials themselves cause information loss due to their finite widths because the neuron is oblivious to the input that is arriving during an action potential. Consequently, neurons with high firing rates lose a large amount of the information in their inputs. The additional cost incurred by voltage-gated Na+ channels also means that action potentials can encode less information per unit energy, proving metabolically inefficient, and suggesting penalisation of high firing rates in the nervous system.