Control of neural synchrony using channelrhodopsin-2: a computational study

  • Authors:

  • Sachin S. Talathi;Paul R. Carney;Pramod P. Khargonekar

  • Affiliations:

  • Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA 32611 and J Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA 32611;Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA 32611 and J Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA 32611;Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA 32611

  • Venue:
  • Journal of Computational Neuroscience
  • Year:
  • 2011

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Abstract

In this paper, we present an optical stimulation based approach to induce 1:1 in-phase synchrony in a network of coupled interneurons wherein each interneuron expresses the light sensitive protein channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2). We begin with a transition rate model for the channel kinetics of ChR2 in response to light stimulation. We then define "functional optical time response curve (fOTRC)" as a measure of the response of a periodically firing interneuron (transfected with ChR2 ion channel) to a periodic light pulse stimulation. We specifically consider the case of unidirectionally coupled (UCI) network and propose an open loop control architecture that uses light as an actuation signal to induce 1:1 in-phase synchrony in the UCI network. Using general properties of the spike time response curves (STRCs) for Type-1 neuron model (Ermentrout, Neural Comput 8:979-1001, 1996) and fOTRC, we estimate the (open loop) optimal actuation signal parameters required to induce 1:1 in-phase synchrony. We then propose a closed loop controller architecture and a controller algorithm to robustly sustain stable 1:1 in-phase synchrony in the presence of unknown deviations in the network parameters. Finally, we test the performance of this closed-loop controller in a network of mutually coupled (MCI) interneurons.