Understanding Dopamine Neuron Function with Computational Modeling (Dr. Carmen Canavier)

This talk will summarize the basic insights that mathematical and computational modeling has provided so far into how the intrinsic properties of midbrain dopamine neurons might contribute to their electrical activity in vivo, particularly with respect to the integration of their synaptic inputs. The differential responses of projection-specific subpopulations to noise, depolarization, and hyperpolarization are explained using dynamical systems theory. Topics include conductance-based single-compartment models with Hodgkin-Huxley type equivalent circuits and mass balances, bifurcation theory and fast/slow analyses, pacemaking, bursting, Markov models of ion channels, synaptic integration in the balanced state in vivo, and multicompartmental models with spatially extended morphologies.