On the role of dynamical synapses in coincidence detection

In a number of recent experimental studies it has been reported that synaptic transmission is activity-dependent process. In this paper we study whether and how the synaptic plasticity, in particular, short-term depression a!ects coincidence detection. We explore the responses of a neuron to massive input of Poisson distributed spike trains containing a signal of coincident presynaptic spikes. Our numerical and analytical results indicate that depressed (dynamic) synapses are capable of coincidence detection over a larger frequency range than non-depressed (static) synapses. The conclusion is not particularly dependent on the neuron model and holds for both integrate-and-"re and Hodgkin}Huxley models. 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PACS: 87.17.Aa; 87.18.Sn; 87.19.La