Temporal structure in the bursting activity of the leech heartbeat CPG neurons

Neural signatures are cell-specific interspike interval distributions found in bursting neurons. These intraburst signatures have been first described for the neurons of the pyloric CPG of crustacean. Their functional role is still unknown and their presence in other CPG systems has not been shown yet. Modeling has shown that neural signatures can be part of a multicoding strategy in spiking–bursting neurons. In this paper, we analyze the interspike interval distribution of bursting motoneurons of the leech heartbeat CPG. We describe the cell-specific characteristics of the neural signatures found in this circuit and we discuss plausible functional roles.