Signal processing properties of fast spiking interneurons

Fast spiking interneurons receive excitatory synaptic inputs from pyramidal cells and a relevant problem is to understand how these cells readout this information. Here this topic is investigated theoretically by using a biophysical modeling of a pair of coupled fast spiking interneuron models. The model predicts, in agreement with the experimental findings, that these cells are capable of transmitting pre-synaptic signals with high temporal precision and transferring high frequency inputs while preserving their relative timing. Moreover, it is shown that a pair of fast spiking interneurons, coupled through both inhibitory and electrical synapses, behaves as a coincidence detector. Lastly, to understand the mechanisms underlying these phenomena, a theoretical analysis is carried out by using a simpler modeling approach.