The Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process as a model for neuronal activity

Mean and variance of the first passage time through a constant boundary for the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process are determined by a straight-forward differentiation of the Laplace transform of the first passage time probability density function. The results of some numerical computations are discussed to shed some light on the input-output behavior of a formal neuron whose dynamics is modeled by a diffusion process of Ornstein-Uhlenbeck type.Work supported in part by the Group for Mathematical Information Science (GNIM) of the National Council for Research