Rate coding

The rate coding model of neuronal firing communication that as the intensity of a stimulus increases the frequency or rate of action potentials, or "spike firing", increases.

This phenomenon was originally shown by ED Adrian and Y Zotterman in 1926.^[1] In this simple experiment different weights were hung from a muscle. As the weight of the stimulus increased, the number of spikes recorded also increased.

See also

• Temporal coding
• Sparse coding
• Independent-spike coding
• Correlation coding
• Population coding

References

• Dayan P & Abbott LF. Theoretical Neuroscience: Computational and Mathematical Modeling of Neural Systems. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press; 2001. ISBN 0-262-04199-5
• Rieke F, Warland D, de Ruyter van Steveninck R, Bialek W. Spikes: Exploring the Neural Code. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press; 1999. ISBN 0-262-68108-0
• ^ Adrian ED & Zotterman Y. The impulses produced by sensory nerve endings: Part II: The response of a single end organ. J Physiol (Lond.) 1926;61: 151-71.