Assoc. Prof. Toni Guillamon (Department of Mathematics, EPSEB, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya)
Title: Strategies to estimate synaptic conductances
Abstract: The information about the synaptic conductances received by a single neurone can provide insights on the excitation/inhibition balance in parts of the brain. In this talk we will give an overview of different approaches to estimate synaptic conductances from membrane potential traces of a neuron and discern between excitatory and inhibitory inputs. From a mathematical point of view, the purpose of this problem is to quantify the input that a multidimensional externally forced system is receiving from the only information of a single variable. It results, then, in an inverse problem and, as other estimation problems, it brings up interesting challenges for many branches of mathematics: statistics, stochastic processes, dynamical systems, Bayesian inference, optimization,… We will discuss on the influence of active ionic channels, and the necessity of both inferring conductances from single trials and providing model-free methods. We will show our proposals to overcome nonlinear effects in the subthreshold regime, as well as a proof of concept for the spiking regime. If time allows, we will also go through heuristic estimation methods.
May 10th, 2PM, Byron “Beige” Y506
