Effect of autaptic delay signal on spike-timing precision of single neuron

Abstract Experimental and theoretical studies have reported that the precise firing of neurons is crucial for sensory representation. Autapse serves as a special synapse connecting neuron and itself, which have also been found to improve the accuracy of neuronal response. In current work, the effect of autaptic delay signal on the spike-timing precision is investigated on a single autaptic Hodgkin-Huxley neuron in the present of noise. The simulation results show that both of excitatory and inhibitory autaptic signals can effectively adjust the precise spike time of neurons with noise by choosing the appropriate coupling strength g and time delay of autaptic signal τ. The g-τ parameter space is divided into two regions:one is the region where the spike-timing precision is effectively regulated; another is the region where the neuronal firing is almost not regulated. For the excitatory and inhibitory autapse, the range of parameters causing the accuracy of neuronal firing is different. Moreover, it is also found that the mechanisms of the spike-timing precision regulation are different for the two kinds of autaptic signals.