No neuron is an island: Homeostatic plasticity and over-constraint in a neural circuit

To support computation the activity of neurons must vary within a useful range, which highlights one potential value of homeostatic plasticity. The interconnectedness of the brain, however, introduces the possibility that combinations of homeostatic mechanisms can produce over-constraint in which not all set points can be satisfied. We use a simulation of the cerebellum to investigate the potential for such conflict and its consequences. In this instance the conflict produces perpetual drift and eventual saturation of synaptic weights. We show that these problems can be resolved for this network by a particular combination of sites and rules for plasticity. We also show that simulations that implement these rules for homeostatic plasticity are more resistant to forgetting. These results illustrate the general principle that homeostatic plasticity within a system must not set up conflicts in which mutually exclusive set points exist and that one consequence can be perpetual induction of plasticity.