Towards simulations of long-term behavior of neural networks: Modeling synaptic plasticity of connections within and between human brain regions

Abstract

Simulations of neural networks can be used to study the direct effect of internal or external changes on brain dynamics. However, some changes are not immediate but occur on the timescale of weeks, months, or years. Examples include effects of strokes, surgical tissue removal, or traumatic brain injury but also gradual changes during brain development. Simulating network activity over a long time, even for a small number of nodes, is a computational challenge. Here, we model a coupled network of human brain regions with a modified Wilson-Cowan model representing dynamics for each region and with synaptic plasticity adjusting connection weights within and between regions. Using strategies ranging from different models for plasticity, vectorization and a different differential equation solver setup, we achieved one second runtime for one second biological time.

Keywords: Biological neural network modeling; Brain simulation; Neural mass model; Optimization.