Bistability, noise, and information processing in sensory neurons

The author considers the interpretation of time series data from firing events in periodically stimulated sensory neurons. A theoretical model, representing the neurons as bistable switching elements embedded in a Gaussian noise background, is considered. The cooperative effects arising through the coupling of the noise to the modulation are examined, together with their possible implications in the features of inter-spike-interval histograms (ISIHs) that are ubiquitous in neurophysiological experimental data. This approach provides the simplest possible interpretation of the ISIHs and has been found to reproduce the salient features of experimental ISIHs