Abstract
Cell assemblies are thought to be the substrate of memory in the brain. Theoretical studies have previously shown that assemblies can be formed in networks with multiple types of plasticity. But how exactly they are formed and how they encode information is yet to be fully understood. One possibility is that memories are stored in silent assemblies. Here we used a computational model to study the formation of silent assemblies in a network of spiking neurons with excitatory and inhibitory plasticity. We found that even though the formed assemblies were silent in terms of mean firing rate, they had an increased coefficient of variation of inter-spike intervals. We also found that this spiking irregularity could be read out with support of short-term plasticity, and that it could contribute to the longevity of memories.
Highlights
Cortical synapses are plastic, allowing sensory experience to be stored in network connectivity
Memories are thought to be stored in the brain in groups of strongly connected neurons. These memories can exist in a dormant state and be active exclusively when activated by an external stimulus
We show that even when they exist in a dormant state, there could be a trace left in how neurons are firing
Summary
Cortical synapses are plastic, allowing sensory experience to be stored in network connectivity. Concurrent activation of ensembles of neurons is thought to promote cell assembly formation by potentiating their synapses [1]. Stronger synapses within neurons allows them to be more activated together, even in the presence of partial cues. 200790/Z/16/Z, Simons Foundation 564408 and EPSRC EP/R035806/1 (all to CC). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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