A Neural Network Model of Inhibitory Information Processing in Aplysia

Recent cellular studies have revealed a novel form of inhibitory information processing in the siphon withdrawal reflex of the marine mollusc Aplysia: Motorneuronal output is significantly reduced by activity-dependent potentiation of recurrent inhibition within the siphon withdrawal network (Fischer and Carew 1991, 1993). This inhibitory modulation is mediated by two types of identified interneurons, L29s and L30s. In an effort to describe and analyze this and other forms of inhibitory information processing in Aplysia, and to compare it with similar processing in other nervous systems, we have constructed a neural network model that incorporates many empirically observed features of these interneurons. The model generates important aspects of the interactions of cells L29 and L30, and with no further modification, exhibits many network level phenomena that were not explicitly incorporated into the model.