Presynaptic Inhibition as a rapid compensatory process

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Laura Bella Naumann

Presynaptic GABA(B) receptors have been shown to modulate the activity of neural circuits by inhibiting calcium channels which causes a reduction in neurotransmitter release. Activation of presynaptic GABA(B) receptors at excitatory synapses occurs as a result of GABA spillover from nearby inhibitory synapses. Therefore presynaptic inhibition is a compensatory process that multiplicatively alters effective synaptic strength. We investigate the functional implications of such a mechanism using simulations of biologically inspired spiking networks and mathematical analyses of simplified phenomenological models.