title: Spatial-temporal dynamics of chaotic behavior in cultured hippocampal networks.
abstract: Using multiple nonlinear techniques, we revealed the existence of chaos in the spontaneous activity of neuronal networks in vitro. The spatial-temporal dynamics of these networks indicated that emergent transition between chaotic behavior and superburst occurred periodically in low-frequency oscillations. An analysis of network-wide activity indicated that chaos was synchronized among different sites. Moreover, we found that the degree of chaos increased as the number of active sites in the network increased during long-term development (over three months in vitro). The chaotic behavior of the dissociated networks had similar spatial-temporal characteristics (rapid transition, periodicity, and synchronization) as the intact brain; however, the degree of chaos depended on the number of active sites at the mesoscopic level. This work could provide insight into neural coding and neurocybernetics.
authors.affiliation: Britton Chance Center for Biomedical Photonics, Wuhan National Laboratory for Optoelectronics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430074, China.
authors.forename: Wenjuan
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Xiangning
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jiangbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pu
authors.forename: Qingming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Luo
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D020134:Catalytic Domain; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004566:Electrodes; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D009991:Oscillometry / Q000379:methods; D051381:Rats; D013997:Time Factors