Experimental validation of a synapse model by adding synaptic conductances to excitable endocrine cells in culture

The purpose of the present work is to study and investigate the physiological behaviour of artificial synapses in excitable non-neural cells. We have supplied a numerical synapse model to a frog melanotrope cell by using either the current-clamp technique or a home-made easy-to-use application to achieve dynamic-clamp recordings in real time conditions. From results obtained with the conventional biophysical AMPA/NMDA model of glutamatergic neurotransmission, we have introduced changes in order to adapt the model to the electrophysiological responses of the recorded cell. Further developments are in progress to extend such hybrid connections to multi-component neural networks.