Rate coding
Encyclopedia
The rate coding model of neuron
al firing communication states that as the intensity of a stimulus increases the frequency
or rate of action potential
s, or "spike firing", increases. Rate coding is sometimes called frequency coding.
This phenomenon
was originally shown by ED Adrian and Y Zotterman
in 1926. In this simple experiment different weights were hung from a muscle
. As the weight of the stimulus increased, the number of spikes recorded from sensory nerves innervating the muscle also increased. From these original experiments Adrian and Zotterman concluded that action potentials were unitary events, and that the frequency of events, and not individual event magnitude, was the basis for most inter-neuronal communication.
Neuron
A neuron is an electrically excitable cell that processes and transmits information by electrical and chemical signaling. Chemical signaling occurs via synapses, specialized connections with other cells. Neurons connect to each other to form networks. Neurons are the core components of the nervous...
al firing communication states that as the intensity of a stimulus increases the frequency
Frequency
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit time. It is also referred to as temporal frequency.The period is the duration of one cycle in a repeating event, so the period is the reciprocal of the frequency...
or rate of action potential
Action potential
In physiology, an action potential is a short-lasting event in which the electrical membrane potential of a cell rapidly rises and falls, following a consistent trajectory. Action potentials occur in several types of animal cells, called excitable cells, which include neurons, muscle cells, and...
s, or "spike firing", increases. Rate coding is sometimes called frequency coding.
This phenomenon
Phenomenon
A phenomenon , plural phenomena, is any observable occurrence. Phenomena are often, but not always, understood as 'appearances' or 'experiences'...
was originally shown by ED Adrian and Y Zotterman
Yngve Zotterman
Yvnge Zotterman was a Swedish neurophysiologist who received his medical training at the Karolinska Institute. He conducted pioneering studies on nerve conduction...
in 1926. In this simple experiment different weights were hung from a muscle
Muscle
Muscle is a contractile tissue of animals and is derived from the mesodermal layer of embryonic germ cells. Muscle cells contain contractile filaments that move past each other and change the size of the cell. They are classified as skeletal, cardiac, or smooth muscles. Their function is to...
. As the weight of the stimulus increased, the number of spikes recorded from sensory nerves innervating the muscle also increased. From these original experiments Adrian and Zotterman concluded that action potentials were unitary events, and that the frequency of events, and not individual event magnitude, was the basis for most inter-neuronal communication.
See also
- Neural codingNeural codingNeural coding is a neuroscience-related field concerned with how sensory and other information is represented in the brain by networks of neurons. The main goal of studying neural coding is to characterize the relationship between the stimulus and the individual or ensemble neuronal responses and...
- Temporal codingTemporal codingThe temporal coding is a type of neural coding which relies on precise timing of action potentials or inter-spike intervals.Combined with traditional rate coding models, temporal coding can provide additional information with the same rate....
- Sparse codingSparse codingThe sparse code is a kind of neural code in which each item is encoded by the strong activation of a relatively small set of neurons. For each item to be encoded, this is a different subset of all available neurons....
- Independent-spike codingIndependent-spike codingThe independent-spike coding model of neuronal firing claims that each individual action potential, or "spike", is independent of each other spike within the spike train.Contrast this with correlation coding.-References:...
- Correlation codingCorrelation codingThe correlation coding model of neuronal firing claims that correlations between action potentials, or "spikes", within a spike train may carry additional information above and beyond the simple timing of the spikes...
- Population codingPopulation codingPopulation coding is a means by which information is coded in a group of neurons. In population coding, each neuron has a distribution of responses over some set of inputs, and the responses of many neurons may be combined to determine some value about the inputs...