Date Thesis Awarded
5-2017
Access Type
Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only
Degree Name
Bachelors of Science (BS)
Department
Applied Science
Advisor
Gregory D. Smith
Committee Members
Christopher Del Negro
Christy Porter
Abstract
This thesis focuses on subthreshold membrane potential fluctuations in the plateau potentials of bistable neurons. Research involved with plateau potentials typically finds one of the resting membrane potentials to be more susceptible to voltage fluctuations. This difference in the amplitude of the membrane potential fluctuations is most often attributed to the voltage-dependent membrane conductance. Occasionally, however, the typically quieter resting membrane potential exhibits larger voltage fluctuations than the expected one. It has been proposed that this increased membrane potential noise is the result of the stochastic gating of the voltage-gated ion channels. In this thesis, we use a simple bistable neuron model to show that the increased intrinsic membrane noise in the quieter resting membrane potential is most likely not caused by the random gating of the ion channels.
Recommended Citation
Borrus, Daniel Scott, "Plateau Potential Fluctuations and Intrinsic Membrane Noise" (2017). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1083.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1083
