Neuronal coding homeostasis in neuropathic pain cortical networks – Homeocode

Information flow through cortical neurons can be decomposed into 3 main steps: 1) encoding (action potential (AP) emission), 2) propagation (travel of AP into the axon) and 3) transmission (synaptic relase). This process is determined by voltage-gated ion channels, myelination and synaptic release probability. Moreover, the neurons can display two type of coding regimen: a Firing Rate-based Coding (FRC) and an AP Waveform-based Coding (AWC, coding via modulation of AP shape). Interestingly, several lines of evidence suggest that regulations of ion channels, myelination and synaptic release probability promoting FRC lead to decrease of AWC and vice-versa. Therefore, we postulated the hypothesis of neuronal coding homeostasis: neurons can undergo a modification of their coding regimen but the amount of information flow is preserved. Using a transdisciplinary approach (electrophysiological recordings, mathematical information quantification and computational modelling), we propose to study this hypothesis by observing information flow modifications following excitability regulation of layer V cortical neurons in the context of facial neuropathic pain.