"Developing networks of neural systems can exhibit spontaneous, synchronous activities called neural bursts, which can be important in the organization of functional neural circuits. ... Using a propagation model we infer the spreading speed of the spiking activity, which increases as the culture ages. We perform computer simulations of the system using a physiological model of spiking networks in two spatial dimensions and find the parameters that reproduce the observed resynchronization of spiking in the bursts. An analysis of the simulated dynamics suggests that the depletion of synaptic resources causes the resynchronization. The spatial propagation dynamics of the simulations match well with observations over the course of a burst and point to an interplay of the synaptic efficacy and the noisy neural self-activation in producing the morphology of the bursts."
Model Type: Realistic Network
Cell Type(s): Abstract Morris-Lecar neuron
Currents: I Calcium; I Potassium
Model Concept(s): Synchronization; Bursting
Simulation Environment: C or C++ program (web link to model)
Implementer(s): Chen, Chun-Chung [cjj at u.washington.edu]
References:
Huang CH, Huang YT, Chen CC, Chan CK. (2017). Propagation and synchronization of reverberatory bursts in developing cultured networks. Journal of computational neuroscience. 42 [PubMed]