Data/software for "Variation in Synaptic Inputs Drives Functional Versatility for Sound Encoding in Globular Bushy Cells"

Synaptic convergence is fundamental to neuronal circuit function, impacting diverse processing like coincidence detection and signal transmission. Across sensory systems, convergence architecture and synaptic input strengths are key for extracting stimulus features. In the cochlear nucleus, globular bushy cells (GBC) receive multiple endbulb of Held terminals from the auditory nerve. These inputs vary considerably in size, even among those targeting the same cell. Yet, the functional consequences of input strength variation for sound encoding remain unclear. Here, we investigated how synaptic input variation shapes sound encoding in GBC of Mongolian gerbils using in vitro conductance-clamp recordings and computational modeling. By simulating synaptic inputs with variable strength distributions, we found that input variation enhances rate coding at the expense of temporal precision. These findings suggest that endbulb strength heterogeneity allows GBC to operate along a functional continuum which may generate diverse information streams to downstream targets.