Quantitative analysis of a Schaffer collateral model

Abstract

Advances in techniques for the formal analysis of neural networks have introduced the possibility of detailed quantitative analyses of brain circuitry. This paper applies a method for calculating mutual information to the analysis of the Schaffer collateral connections between regions CA3 and CA1 of the hippocampus. Attention is given to the introduction of further details of anatomy and physiology to the calculation: in particular, the distribution of the number of connections that CA1 neurons receive from CA3, and the graded nature of the firing-rate distribution in region CA3.