Frequency cluster formation and slow oscillations in neural populations with plasticity

PLoS One. 2019 Nov 14;14(11):e0225094. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225094. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

We report the phenomenon of frequency clustering in a network of Hodgkin-Huxley neurons with spike timing-dependent plasticity. The clustering leads to a splitting of a neural population into a few groups synchronized at different frequencies. In this regime, the amplitude of the mean field undergoes low-frequency modulations, which may contribute to the mechanism of the emergence of slow oscillations of neural activity observed in spectral power of local field potentials or electroencephalographic signals at high frequencies. In addition to numerical simulations of such multi-clusters, we investigate the mechanisms of the observed phenomena using the simplest case of two clusters. In particular, we propose a phenomenological model which describes the dynamics of two clusters taking into account the adaptation of coupling weights. We also determine the set of plasticity functions (update rules), which lead to multi-clustering.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Cluster Analysis
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
  • Neurons / physiology*
  • Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted

Grants and funding

VR, SY and RB acknowledge the financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) - Project 384950143, Project 411803875 and Project 308748074. OVP acknowledges the support by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Grant Agreement 826421 (VirtualBrainCloud). ELL acknowledges the financial support by the São Paulo Research Foundation (processes FAPESP 2016/23398-8 and 2017/13502-5). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.