How to model synaptic activation using NetCon

Moderator: wwlytton

Post Reply
harrisonZ
Posts: 8
Joined: Thu Jan 23, 2020 3:45 pm

How to model synaptic activation using NetCon

Post by harrisonZ »

Hi,

I want to model the synaptic activation in Neuron. I have one neuron connecting a second neuron with AMPA synapse using NetCon. Is there a way to activate the synaptic connection without making the presynaptic cell fire? Can I just feed a spiking event to NetCon? Thank you.
ted
Site Admin
Posts: 6287
Joined: Wed May 18, 2005 4:50 pm
Location: Yale University School of Medicine
Contact:

Re: How to model synaptic activation using NetCon

Post by ted »

If all you need is a single activation of an even-driven synapse, there's no need for a presynaptic cell. Just create the NetCon by
(in hoc)
objref nil, nc
nc = new NetCon(nil, target)
or
(in Python)
nc = h.NetCon(None, target)
Then use the NetCon class's .event() method to specify the event delivery time. See the relevant entry in the Programmer's Reference.

If you want to drive the target with two or more events at times specified in a Vector, use a VecStim, which is defined by vecevent.mod--see vecevent.mod and example of usage vecevent.hoc in
nrn/share/nrn/examples/nrniv/netcon
If those files aren't already on your computer, download the source code from github (or get it from https://neuron.yale.edu/neuron/download/getstd).
Post Reply