Coding strategies in early stages of the somatosensory system

Abstract

This paper explores the information coding performed by the local circuit of the Cuneate Nucleus (CN). Based on physiological data, we have developed a realistic computational model and studied its output after presenting different types of plausible cutaneous stimuli. Computer simulations show that (1) static stimuli are encoded in progressive spatio-temporal patterns made up of single-spike trains generated by each stimulated neuron, and (2) moving stimuli are encoded with a bursting discharge of those units responding to the leading edge of the stimulus. These results suggest that the role of CN could be the transformation of the stimulus representation in order to facilitate both discrimination and classification in later processing stages. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2005.