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Published on: June 29, 2018
Inhibitory neurons can facilitate rhythmic activity in a neural network
Takeaki Shimokawa1, Shigeru Shinomoto
1Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan.
Summary
Inhibitory neurons can hinder or facilitate synchronous activity in neural populations. However, simulations show that these neurons primarily facilitate rhythmic neural activity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
Background:
- Neural synchrony is crucial for information processing in the brain.
- The role of inhibitory neurons in modulating population synchrony is not fully understood.
- Existing models suggest inhibitory neurons may hinder synchronous activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the dual role of inhibitory neurons in the emergence of synchronous activity among excitatory neurons.
- To determine whether inhibitory neurons hinder or facilitate neural synchrony.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of a simplified phase model of interacting oscillators.
- Numerical simulations using more biologically realistic neural network models.
Main Results:
- The phase model analysis indicated that inhibitory neurons can both hinder and facilitate synchrony.
- Simulations with realistic models demonstrated that inhibitory neurons predominantly facilitate rhythmic activity in neural populations.
Conclusions:
- Inhibitory neurons play a complex role in neural synchrony.
- Contrary to some hypotheses, inhibitory neurons appear to facilitate, rather than hinder, rhythmic activity in neural networks.
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