Short term synaptic depression model—Analytical solution and analysis

In this article we present analytical solutions of the single and pair pulse time evolution of a plastic neocortical synapse described by the TM-model. We show that this model is equivalent to the receptor-desensitization model with three kinetic states. For the TM-model we derive the analytical form of a measure of paired pulse depression. We analyze the sensitivity of the synaptic depression phenomenon on model parameters and derive the relative importance of each of the parameters. The closed form of the measure of synaptic depression allows fitting the model to experimental data. The fitted parameters are used to make predictions about the asymptotic properties of the postsynaptic currents. We show that for synapses with the ratio of inactivation and recovery rates of the same order, the synaptic depression does not preclude the rate-coding of information: e.g. in the pyramid–pyramid connections of adult rat neocortex, rate-coding is possible for higher frequencies.