The amplitude of subsequent excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP) is reduced by this, in accordance with Ohm's Law.
[2][4] Shunting inhibition is theorized to be a type of gain control mechanism, regulating the responses of neurons.
[7] Some evidence exists that shunting inhibition can have a divisive effect on neuronal responses, at least on subthreshold postsynaptic potentials.
[8] In a 2005 article, researchers Abbott and Chance state that "Although the importance of gain modulation and multiplicative interaction in general has been appreciated for many years, it has proven difficult to uncover a realistic biophysical mechanism by which it can occur.
This has been shown theoretically as well as experimentally – inhibition has the same subtractive effect on firing rates whether it is of the shunting or hyperpolarizing variety.