Depolarization Induced Suppression of Excitation and the Emergence of Ultraslow Rhythms in Neural Networks

Ultraslow fluctuations (0.01–0.1 Hz) are a feature of intrinsic brain activity of as yet unclear origin. We propose a candidate mechanism based on retrograde endocannabinoid signaling in a synaptically coupled network of excitatory neurons. This is known to cause depolarization-induced suppression of excitation (DISE), which we model phenomenologically. We construct emergent network oscillations in a globally coupled network and show that for strong synaptic coupling DISE can lead to a synchronized population burst at the frequencies of resting brain rhythms. ©2010 The American Physical Society