Computational Reconstructions of Extracellular Action Potentials and Local Field Potentials of a Rat Cerebellum Using Point Neurons

One of the main challenges in computational modeling of neurons is to reconstruct the realistic behavior of the neurons of the brain under different functional conditions. At the same time, simulation of large networks is time-consuming and requires huge computational power. The use of spiking neuron models could reduce the computational cost and time. In this study, the extracellular potentials were reconstructed from a single point neuron model of cerebellum granule neuron, and local field potentials (LFP) were modeled. Realistic reconstruction of cerebellum Crus II evoked post-synaptic local field potentials using simple models of granule neurons help to explore emergent behavior attributing patterns of information flow in the granule layer of the cerebellum. The modeling suggests that the evoked extracellular action potential (EAP) arises from the transmembrane currents correlating spiking activity and conductive properties of the extracellular medium to the LFP. The computation study reproduces experimentally observed in vitro N2a and N2b evoked LFP waves and can be used to test the scaling of models developed from a bottom-up approach.