Taste-specific cell assemblies in a biologically informed model of the nucleus of the solitary tract

Although the cellular organization of many primary sensory nuclei has been well characterized, questions remain about the functional architecture of the first central relay for gustation, the rostral nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS). Here we used electrophysiological data recorded from single cells in the NTS to inform a network model of taste processing. Previous studies showed that electrical stimulation of the chorda tympani (CT) nerve initiates two types of inhibitory influences with different time courses in separate groups of NTS cells. Each type of inhibition targeted cells with distinct taste response properties. Further analyses of these data identified three NTS cell types differentiated by their latency of evoked response, time course of CT evoked inhibition, and degree of selectivity across taste qualities. Based on these results, we designed a model of the NTS consisting of discrete, reciprocally connected, stimulus-specific "cell" assemblies. Input to the network of integrate-and-fire model neurons was based on electrophysiological recordings from the CT nerve. Following successful simulation of paired-pulse CT stimulation, the network was tested for its ability to discriminate between two "taste" stimuli. Network dynamics of the model produced biologically plausible responses from each unit type and enhanced discrimination between taste qualities. We propose that an interactive network of taste quality specific cell assemblies, similar to our model, may account for the coherence in across-neuron patterns of NTS responses between similar tastants.