title: Impact of stimuli distribution on neural network responses.
abstract: In this study we investigated the relationship between stimulus regularity and observed responses in a biological neural network of dissociated cortical rat neurons plated over Micro-Electrode Arrays (MEAs). In particular, the intervals between identical stimuli in our experiments followed a 1/f(β) distribution, and regularity increased with the value of β (values tested were 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, ∞). Comparisons occurred on the correlation between low-passed (rectangular window, 0.1s in length) stimulation trains and network-wide spike trains. Our results show that cultures are largely unable to synchronize network-wide responses with regular stimulation at the considered stimulation rate (0.5Hz), while this occurs to a much higher degree for irregular stimulations.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scarsi
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tessadori
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pasquale
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chiappalone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D004558:Electric Stimulation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008839:Microelectrodes; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D051381:Rats