title: A neural network model for trace conditioning.
abstract: We studied the dynamics of a neural network that has both recurrent excitatory and random inhibitory connections. Neurons started to become active when a relatively weak transient excitatory signal was presented and the activity was sustained due to the recurrent excitatory connections. The sustained activity stopped when a strong transient signal was presented or when neurons were disinhibited. The random inhibitory connections modulated the activity patterns of neurons so that the patterns evolved without recurrence with time. Hence, a time passage between the onsets of the two transient signals was represented by the sequence of activity patterns. We then applied this model to represent the trace eye blink conditioning, which is mediated by the hippocampus. We assumed this model as CA3 of the hippocampus and considered an output neuron corresponding to a neuron in CA1. The activity pattern of the output neuron was similar to that of CA1 neurons during trace eye blink conditioning, which was experimentally observed.
authors.affiliation: Lab. for Visual Neurocomputing, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan. tyam@brain.riken.jp
authors.forename: Tadashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tanaka
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001767:Blinking / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D003213:Conditioning, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D016571:Neural Networks, Computer; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology