Synchronization among neuronal pools without common inputs: in vivo study

Haya Brama, Shoshana Guberman, Moshe Abeles, Edward Stern*, Ido Kanter

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Periodic synchronization of activity among neuronal pools has been related to substantial neural processes and information throughput in the neocortical network. However, the mechanisms of generating such periodic synchronization among distributed pools of neurons remain unclear. We hypothesize that to a large extent there is interplay between the topology of the neocortical networks and their reverberating modes of activity. The firing synchronization is governed by a nonlocal mechanism, the network delay loops, such that distant neuronal pools without common drives can be synchronized. This theoretical interplay between network topology and the synchronized mode is verified using an iterative procedure of a single intracellularly recorded neuron in vivo, imitating the dynamics of the entire network. The input is injected to the neuron via the recording electrode as current and computed from the filtered, evoked spikes of its pre-synaptic sources, previously emulated by the same neuron. In this manner we approximate subthreshold synaptic inputs from afferent neuronal pools to the neuron. Embedding the activity of these recurrent motifs in the intact brain allows us to measure the effects of connection probability, synaptic strength, and ongoing activity on the neuronal synchrony. Our in vivo experiments indicate that an initial stimulus given to a single pool is dynamically evolving into the formations of zero-lag and cluster synchronization. By applying results from theoretical models and in vitro experiments to in vivo activity in the intact brain, we support the notion that this mechanism may account for the binding activity across distributed brain areas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3721-3731
Number of pages11
JournalBrain Structure and Function
Volume220
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 26 Nov 2015
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2014, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Keywords

  • Cell assemblies
  • In vivo
  • Neural networks
  • Population dynamics
  • Synchronization

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