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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2011 Aug 12.
Published in final edited form as: Neuron. 2010 Aug 12;67(3):354–356. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.07.024

Figure 1. Electrical synapses preferentially transmit spike AHPs that inhibit and desynchronize the local network.

Figure 1

(A) Schematic three-neuron network electrically coupled by gap junctions with variable strengths (denoted by the number of gap junction channels). Only cell 1 receives excitatory synaptic input.

(B) A spike in cell 1 triggers mainly hyperpolarizing electrical PSPs in cells 2 and 3. Because of the low-pass filtering properties of electrically coupled cell pairs, the slow AHP propagates much more readily than the high frequency spike. Attenuation of the electrical PSP is proportional to gap junctional strength.

(C) Under resting conditions, the three cells spike synchronously. When the excitatory synaptic input to cell 1 is activated (vertical dotted line), variably sized hyperpolarizing PSPs are generated in cells 2 and 3. Heterogeneous PSPs lead to transient desynchronization. With time, synchrony is reestablished. (based on Vervaeke et al., 2010)