Alain Destexhe – författare

Neuronal Noise combines experimental, theoretical and computational results to show how noise is inherent to neuronal activity, and how noise can be important for neuronal computations.  The book covers many aspects of noise in neurons, with an emphasis on the largest source of noise: synaptic noise. It provides students and young researchers with an overview of the important methods and concepts that have emerged from research in this area. It also provides the specialist with a summary of the large body of sometimes contrasting experimental data, and different theories proposed to explore the computational power that various forms of "noise" can confer to neurons.

Dynamic-clamp is a fascinating electrophysiology technique that consists of merging living neurons with computational models. The dynamic-clamp (also called “conductance injection”) allows experimentalists and theoreticians to challenge neurons (or any other type of cell) with complex conductance stimuli generated by a computer.

The technique can be implemented from neural simulation environments and a variety of custom-made or commercial systems. The real-time interaction between the computer and cell also enables the design of recording paradigms with unprecedented accuracy via a computational model of the electrode. Dynamic-Clamp: From Principles to Applications contains contributions from leading researchers in the field, who investigate these paradigms at the cellular or network level, in vivo and in vitro, and in different brain regions and cardiac cells. Topics discussed include the addition of artificially-generated synaptic activity to neurons; adding, amplifying or neutralizing voltage-dependent conductances; creating hybrid networks with real and artificial cells; attaching simulated dendritic tree structures to the living cell; and connecting different neurons.

This book will be of interest to experimental biophysicists, neurophysiologists, and cardiac physiologists, as well as theoreticians, engineers, and computational neuroscientists. Graduate and undergraduate students will also find up-to-date coverage of physiological problems and how they are investigated.