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Electrodiffusion models of synaptic potentials in dendritic spines

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Abstract

The biophysical properties of dendritic spines play a critical role in neuronal integration but are still poorly understood, due to experimental difficulties in accessing them. Spine biophysics has been traditionally explored using theoretical models based on cable theory. However, cable theory generally assumes that concentration changes associated with ionic currents are negligible and, therefore, ignores electrodiffusion, i.e. the interaction between electric fields and ionic diffusion. This assumption, while true for large neuronal compartments, could be incorrect when applied to femto-liter size structures such as dendritic spines. To extend cable theory and explore electrodiffusion effects, we use here the Poisson (P) and Nernst-Planck (NP) equations, which relate electric field to charge and Fick’s law of diffusion, to model ion concentration dynamics in spines receiving excitatory synaptic potentials (EPSPs). We use experimentally measured voltage transients from spines with nanoelectrodes to explore these dynamics with realistic parameters. We find that (i) passive diffusion and electrodiffusion jointly affect the dynamics of spine EPSPs; (ii) spine geometry plays a key role in shaping EPSPs; and, (iii) the spine-neck resistance dynamically decreases during EPSPs, leading to short-term synaptic facilitation. Our formulation, which complements and extends cable theory, can be easily adapted to model ionic biophysics in other nanoscale bio-compartments.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the NIMH (R01MH101218, R01MH100561) and the NINDS (R01NS110422). This material is also based upon work supported by, or in part by, the U. S. Army Research Laboratory and the U. S. Army Research Office under contract number W911NF-12-1-0594 (MURI). T.L. was partly supported by the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale and the Philippe foundation. K.J was supported by the Kavli Institute of Brain Science at Columbia.

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Author notes

  1. Thibault Lagache

    Present address: BioImage Analysis Unit, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Thibault Lagache, Krishna Jayant & Rafael Yuste

  2. Neurotechnology Center, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Thibault Lagache, Krishna Jayant & Rafael Yuste

  3. Kavli institute of Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Thibault Lagache, Krishna Jayant & Rafael Yuste

  4. Department of Electrical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA

    Krishna Jayant

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Contributions

T.L. and R.Y. conceived the project. T.L performed the modeling and analysis. K.J assisted with model development and analysis. T.L and K.J wrote the manuscript. R.Y assembled and directed the team, provided guidance, funding, and edited the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Thibault Lagache.

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Lagache, T., Jayant, K. & Yuste, R. Electrodiffusion models of synaptic potentials in dendritic spines. J Comput Neurosci 47, 77–89 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10827-019-00725-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10827-019-00725-5

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