Temporal integration by a slowly inactivating K+ current in hippocampal neurons (original) (raw)

Nature volume 336, pages 379–381 (1988)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 15 December 1988

Abstract

A central aspect of neuronal function is how each nerve cell translates synaptic input into a sequence of action potentials that carry information along the axon, coded as spike frequency. When transduction from a graded depolarizing input to spikes is studied by injecting a depolarizing current, there is often a remarkably long delay to the first action potential, both in mammalian and molluscan neurons1–6. Here, I report that the delayed excitation in rat hippocampal neurons is due to a slowly inactivating potassium current, I D . I _D_co-exists with other voltage-gated K+ currents, including a fast A current and a slow delayed rectifier current. As I D activates in the subthreshold range, and takes tens of seconds to recover from inactivation, it enables the cell to integrate separate depolarizing inputs over long times. I D also makes the encoding properties of the cell exceedingly sensitive to the prevailing membrane potential.

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Author notes

  1. Johan F. Storm
    Present address: Institute of Neurophysiology, University of Oslo, Karl Johans gt. 47, 0162, Oslo, 1, Norway

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurobiology and Behavior and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York, 11794, USA
    Johan F. Storm
  2. Institute of Neurophysiology, Karl Johans gt. 47, 0162, Oslo, 1, Norway
    Johan F. Storm

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  1. Johan F. Storm
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Storm, J. Temporal integration by a slowly inactivating K+ current in hippocampal neurons.Nature 336, 379–381 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1038/336379a0

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