RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Temporal filters in response to presynaptic spike trains: Interplay of cellular, synaptic and short-term plasticity time scales JF bioRxiv FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory SP 2021.09.16.460719 DO 10.1101/2021.09.16.460719 A1 Yugarshi Mondal A1 Rodrigo F. O. Pena A1 Horacio G. Rotstein YR 2021 UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/09/19/2021.09.16.460719.abstract AB Temporal filters, the ability of postsynaptic neurons to preferentially select certain presynaptic input patterns, have been shown to be associated with the notion of information filtering and coding of sensory inputs. Their properties can be dynamically characterized as the transient responses to periodic presynaptic inputs. Short-term plasticity (STP) has been proposed to be an important player in the generation of temporal filters, but the response of postsynaptic neurons to presynaptic inputs depends on a collection of time scales in addition to STP’s, which conspire to create temporal filters: the postsynaptic time scales generated by the cellular intrinsic currents and the presynaptic time scales captured by the ISI distribution patterns. The mechanisms by which these time scales and the processes giving rise to them interact to produce temporal filters in response to presynaptic input spike trains are not well understood. We carry out a systematic modeling and computational analysis to understand how the postsynaptic low-, high- and band-pass temporal filters are generated in response to periodic presynaptic spike trains in the presence STP, and how the dynamic properties of these filters depend on the interplay of a hierarchy of processes: arrival of the presynaptic spikes, the activation of STP and its effect on the synaptic connection efficacy, and the response of the postsynaptic cell. The time scales associated with each of these processes operate at the short-term, single-event level (they are activated at the arrival of each presynaptic spike) and collectively produce the long-term time scales that determine the shape and properties of the filters. We develop a series of mathematical tools to address these issues for a relatively simple model where depression and facilitation interact only at the level of the synaptic efficacy change as time progresses and we extend our results and tools to account for more complex models that involve interactions at the STP level and multiple STP time scales. We use these tools to understand the mechanisms of generation of temporal filters in the postsynaptic cells in terms of the properties and dynamics of the interacting building blocks.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.