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Related Experiment Videos

Pattern generation by two coupled time-discrete neural networks with synaptic depression

W Senn1, T Wannier, J Kleinle

  • 1Universität Bern, Switzerland.

Neural Computation
|July 9, 1998
PubMed
Summary

Neuronal networks can generate rhythmic activity without pacemaker cells, relying instead on synaptic depression. Coupling two such networks can lead to various synchronized or desynchronized oscillations, suggesting a role for synaptic tuning in pattern generation.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Neuroscience
  • Systems Neuroscience

Background:

  • Rhythmic animal behaviors, like vertebrate locomotion, typically involve alternating muscle group contractions.
  • Neuronal networks generating these rhythms are often assumed to require pacemaker cells or complex inhibitory/excitatory circuits.
  • Recent experiments suggest purely excitatory networks can oscillate via synaptic depression, challenging this view.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the oscillatory behavior of two symmetrically coupled, purely excitatory neuronal networks.
  • To explore the role of synaptic depression in generating rhythmic activity in the absence of pacemakers.
  • To understand how coupling affects network synchronization and pattern generation.

Main Methods:

Related Experiment Videos

  • Development of a time-discrete mean-field model.
  • Modeling average activity and average synaptic depression of two coupled networks.
  • Analysis of network dynamics across varying parameter values related to synaptic depression.

    • Main Results:

    • Symmetrically coupled excitatory networks can exhibit oscillations.
    • The nature of oscillations (in-phase, antiphase, quasiperiodic, phase-trapped) depends on synaptic depression parameters.
    • Purely excitatory networks with synaptic depression can generate rhythmic activity without pacemakers.

    Conclusions:

    • Synaptic depression is a crucial mechanism for generating rhythmic activity in neuronal networks.
    • Activity-dependent tuning of synaptic depression may underlie the function of biological pattern generators.
    • Coupled excitatory networks offer a simplified model for understanding complex rhythmic behaviors.