Structure of spontaneous UP and DOWN transitions self-organizing in a cortical network model.
Synaptic plasticity is considered to play a crucial role in the experience-dependent self-organization of local cortical networks. In the absence of sensory stimuli, cerebral cortex exhibits spontaneous membrane potential transitions between an UP and a DOWN state. To reveal how cortical networks develop spontaneous activity, or conversely, how spontaneous activity structures cortical networks, we analyze the self-organization of a recurrent network model of excitatory and inhibitory neurons, which is realistic enough to replicate UP-DOWN states, with spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). The individual neurons in the self-organized network exhibit a variety of temporal patterns in the two-state transitions. In addition, the model develops a feed-forward network-like structure that produces a diverse repertoire of precise sequences of the UP state. Our model shows that the self-organized activity well resembles the spontaneous activity of cortical networks if STDP is accompanied by the pruning of weak synapses. These results suggest that the two-state membrane potential transitions play an active role in structuring local cortical circuits.
Kang
Siu
S
Laboratory for Neural Circuit Theory, RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Wako, Japan.
Kitano
Katsunori
K
Fukai
Tomoki
T
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000502:physiology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000502:physiology*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*