Nature Neuroscience
4, 297 - 303 (2001)
doi:10.1038/85147
Activity-dependent modification of inhibitory synapses in models of rhythmic neural networksCristina Soto-Treviño1, 2, Kurt A. Thoroughman1, 2, Eve Marder1
& L. F. Abbott11
Volen Center and Biology Department, Brandeis University, Mail Stop 013, 415 South Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9110, USA
2
The first two authors contributed equally to this work
Correspondence should be addressed to Kurt A. Thoroughman kurt@brandeis.eduThe faithful production of rhythms by many neural circuits depends critically on the strengths of inhibitory synaptic connections. We propose a model in which the strengths of inhibitory synapses in a central pattern-generating circuit are subject to activity-dependent plasticity. The strength of each synapse is modified as a function of the global activity of the postsynaptic neuron and by correlated activity of the pre- and postsynaptic neurons. This allows the self-assembly, from random initial synaptic strengths, of two cells into reciprocal oscillation and three cells into a rhythmic triphasic motor pattern. This self-assembly illustrates that complex oscillatory circuits that depend on multiple inhibitory synaptic connections can be tuned via simple activity-dependent rules.
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