Neuronal Netwerk Formation through Reciprocal Interacties between Activity and Structure

General info

Date from - to

01 Dec 2008 - 12 Jan 2011

Abstract

Information processing in the brain is based on the dynamics of electrical activity in large neuronal networks. Activity dynamics depends on network structure: the strength and pattern of synaptic connections between neurons. For proper network function, this synaptic connectivity should be precisely tuned. However, network structure is not static. Both during development and in adulthood, neuronal architecture and synaptic organization can undergo massive changes. A central unresolved question, therefore, is how neural circuits can maintain stable function in the face of ongoing plasticity. Important determinants of synaptic connectivity - neuronal morphology, synaptic strengths, intrinsic neuronal excitability - are modulated by electrical activity, in both the developing and adult brain. A reciprocal interaction therefore exists between network activity (fast dynamics) and network structure (slow dynamics). Changes in network activity cause changes in network structure, which cause changes in network activity, and so on. We hypothesize that this continuous interplay shapes neuronal networks and renders their function stable to ongoing plasticity. In existing neuronal network models, network structure is largely static. To address our hypothesis, we will create novel computational models of activity-dependent neuronal morphogenesis and the interdependent development of network connectivity and activity, as well as new statistical methods for comparing model-generated data with experimental data. We will examine whether stable network function and characteristic network connectivity and activity can emerge from local activity-dependent processes. Our models and methods will be validated with and give insight into extensive data sets on neuronal morphology and connectivity and activity patterns in (developing) cortical neuronal networks.

Coordinator: Dr. A. van Ooyen, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences , Neurophysiology