Function follows dynamics, not (only) structure: from neural cultures to flexible information routing in the brain

Demian Battaglia; Jordi Soriano; Olav Stetter

Summary

Proceedings of the 2012 International Symposium on Nonlinear Theory and its Applications

2012

Session Number:C1L-B

Session:

Number:551

Function follows dynamics, not (only) structure: from neural cultures to flexible information routing in the brain

Demian Battaglia, Jordi Soriano, Olav Stetter,

pp.551-554

Publication Date:

Online ISSN:2188-5079

DOI:10.15248/proc.1.551

PDF download (1.8MB)

Summary:

Structural connectivity, describing actual synaptic connections, contribute to shape spontaneous or induced neural activity generated by neural circuits, both in vitro and in vivo. However, the resulting dynamics is not fully constrained by structural connectivity and different activity patterns can be generated by a same network, depending on its dynamical state. Beyond structural connectivity, actual influences between neurons in a circuit are described by directed functional connectivity, assessed by means of causal analysis. Thus, structural networks with a rich repertoire of possible dynamics give rise to a multiplicity of functional networks. We illustrate here, resorting to simulations of large networks of spiking neurons, two examples of state-dependent functional connectivity. First we consider a model of a culture of dissociated neurons in vitro, undergoing spontaneous switching between bursting and non-bursting states. Second, we consider how multistability between alternative oscillatory coherence modes in mesoscale cortical circuits might underlie flexible functional reconfiguration and information routing.

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