YEAR : 1999A statistical method for correcting distortions of amplitude distribution histograms due to collisions of synaptic events.AUTHORS : Ankri N, Korn H.
JOURNAL : Journal of Neuroscience Methods
The waveform of spontaneous synaptic potentials or currents comprising synaptic noise can be significantly distorted when these events are closely spaced due to a high frequency activity in the presynaptic inputs that generate them. It is essential to correct these alterations prior to measurements of overlapping miniature and/or postsynaptic potentials, in order to provide reliable information about their true amplitude distributions, and to avoid spurious peaks in the resulting histograms. In this paper we describe a statistical method for making these corrections, its range of application, and its theoretical background. Its use becomes necessary when the frequency of events is of the order of 8-50 Hz, depending upon their time to peak, which ranges from 6 to 1 ms in most synaptic potentials recorded in the central nervous system.