Orientation tuning of a layer 5 pyramidal cortical neuron, at different Δ<i>E</i>K<sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup>.

<p>Somatic firing rate tuning curve for different dendritic <i>E</i><sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup> shift magnitudes, similar to <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002935#pbio.3002935.g004" target="_blank">Fig 4</a>. To further verify the results obtained with the abstract neuron of <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002935#pbio.3002935.g004" target="_blank">Fig 4</a>, we simulated a neuron with detailed, reconstructed morphology. Here, we chose the widely used model of a layer 5 pyramidal neuron, obtained from [<a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002935#pbio.3002935.ref001" target="_blank">1</a>]. The neuronal setup was kept similar to the one used for the abstract neuron, with active conductances listed in <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002935#pbio.3002935.s021" target="_blank">S3 Table</a>. Synapses with similar orientation preferences were on the tips of the apical dendrites, similar to the procedure for the abstract neuron model in the main text. As before, the orientation tuning of individual synapses was achieved by scaling the AMPA and NMDA currents according to the synapse’s tuning curve. Apical segments that experienced input stimulus underwent a shift in <i>E</i><sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup>. The local Δ<i>E</i><sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup> imposed during simulations were grouped into 3 conditions: no shift (Δ<i>E</i><sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup> = 0 mV), small shifts (Δ<i>E</i><sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup> = 6 mV), or large shifts (Δ<i>E</i><sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup> = 18 mV), based on the [K<sup>+</sup>]<sub>o</sub> changes found in <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002935#pbio.3002935.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1</a>. To simulate a realistic somatic firing pattern, the synapses within each dendritic segment were activated randomly given by a Poisson distribution with λ = 30 ms. This stimulation protocol was repeated 3 times with a 300 ms delay between stimulation events. Each neuron setup was simulated with each of the 3 Δ<i>E</i><sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup> conditions to directly assess the effect of the local <i>E</i><sub>K</sub><sup>+</sup> changes.</p> <p>(PDF)</p>