Short term plasticity example sim_epsp_stp

This simulation implements a variation of sim_epsp. A single presynaptic Poisson neuron provides input through a STPConnection which implements a Connection which implements the Tsodyks Markram synapse model [1]. The file records the presynaptic spiketrain, as well as the postsynaptic excitatory conductances and membrane voltage.

[1] Markram, H., Wang, Y., Tsodyks, M., 1998. Differential signaling via the same axon of neocortical pyramidal neurons. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 95, 5323–5328.

The simulation can be invoked without any parameters. It creates the following command line output

zenke@merlin ~/auryn/build/home $ make sim_epsp_stp && ./sim_epsp_stp
( 0) Running ...
[=========================] 100%      t=5.0s
[=========================] 100%      t=5.5s
[=========================] 100%      t=10.0s
( 0) Freeing ...

The presynaptic Poisson neuron initially spikes at 1Hz for 5 seconds. The rate then switches to 50Hz for 0.5s after which it drops back to 1Hz.

The code produces multiple output files with the prefix out_epsp_stp. When plotting the membrane potential out_epsp_stp.mem the output will look somewhat like the following

where zooming in on the high frequency input section reveals the effects of short term depression of the synaptic contact (the parameters in the example are chosen such that the synapse is predominantly depressing).