title: Synaptic and temporal ensemble interpretation of spike-timing-dependent plasticity.
abstract: We postulate that a simple, three-state synaptic switch governs changes in synaptic strength at individual synapses. Under this switch rule, we show that a variety of experimental results on timing-dependent plasticity can emerge from temporal and spatial averaging over multiple synapses and multiple spike pairings. In particular, we show that a critical window for the interaction of pre- and postsynaptic spikes emerges as an ensemble property of the collective system, with individual synapses exhibiting only a minimal form of spike coincidence detection. In addition, we show that a Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro-like, rate-based plasticity rule emerges directly from such a model. This demonstrates that two apparently separate forms of neuronal plasticity can emerge from a much simpler rule governing the plasticity of individual synapses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK. paa02r@ecs.soton.ac.uk
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Appleby
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Elliott
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D013569:Synapses / Q000502:physiology*; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors