Injecting time-varying current into a cellΒΆ

../_images/current_injection_neuron_20151005-081148.png
"""
Injecting time-varying current into a cell.

There are four "standard" current sources in PyNN:

    - DCSource
    - ACSource
    - StepCurrentSource
    - NoisyCurrentSource

Any other current waveforms can be implemented using StepCurrentSource.


Usage: current_injection.py [-h] [--plot-figure] simulator

positional arguments:
  simulator      neuron, nest, brian or another backend simulator

optional arguments:
  -h, --help     show this help message and exit
  --plot-figure  Plot the simulation results to a file

"""

from pyNN.utility import get_simulator, normalized_filename

# === Configure the simulator ================================================

sim, options = get_simulator(("--plot-figure", "Plot the simulation results to a file",
                              {"action": "store_true"}))
sim.setup()


# === Create four cells and inject current into each one =====================

cells = sim.Population(4, sim.IF_curr_exp(v_thresh=-55.0, tau_refrac=5.0, tau_m=10.0))

current_sources = [sim.DCSource(amplitude=0.5, start=50.0, stop=400.0),
                   sim.StepCurrentSource(times=[50.0, 210.0, 250.0, 410.0],
                                         amplitudes=[0.4, 0.6, -0.2, 0.2]),
                   sim.ACSource(start=50.0, stop=450.0, amplitude=0.2,
                                offset=0.1, frequency=10.0, phase=180.0),
                   sim.NoisyCurrentSource(mean=0.5, stdev=0.2, start=50.0,
                                          stop=450.0, dt=1.0)]

for cell, current_source in zip(cells, current_sources):
    cell.inject(current_source)

filename = normalized_filename("Results", "current_injection", "pkl", options.simulator)
sim.record('v', cells, filename, annotations={'script_name': __file__})

# === Run the simulation =====================================================

sim.run(500.0)


# === Save the results, optionally plot a figure =============================

vm = cells.get_data().segments[0].filter(name="v")[0]
sim.end()

if options.plot_figure:
    from pyNN.utility.plotting import Figure, Panel
    from quantities import mV
    figure_filename = filename.replace("pkl", "png")
    Figure(
        Panel(vm, y_offset=-10 * mV, xticks=True, yticks=True,
              xlabel="Time (ms)", ylabel="Membrane potential (mV)",
              ylim=(-96, -59)),
        title="Current injection example",
        annotations="Simulated with %s" % options.simulator.upper()
    ).save(figure_filename)