A Diffusive Homeostatic Signal Maintains Neural Heterogeneity and Responsiveness in Cortical Networks.
Gaseous neurotransmitters such as nitric oxide (NO) provide a unique and often overlooked mechanism for neurons to communicate through diffusion within a network, independent of synaptic connectivity. NO provides homeostatic control of intrinsic excitability. Here we conduct a theoretical investigat...
Main Authors: | , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2015-07-01
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Series: | PLoS Computational Biology |
Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4497656?pdf=render |
Summary: | Gaseous neurotransmitters such as nitric oxide (NO) provide a unique and often overlooked mechanism for neurons to communicate through diffusion within a network, independent of synaptic connectivity. NO provides homeostatic control of intrinsic excitability. Here we conduct a theoretical investigation of the distinguishing roles of NO-mediated diffusive homeostasis in comparison with canonical non-diffusive homeostasis in cortical networks. We find that both forms of homeostasis provide a robust mechanism for maintaining stable activity following perturbations. However, the resulting networks differ, with diffusive homeostasis maintaining substantial heterogeneity in activity levels of individual neurons, a feature disrupted in networks with non-diffusive homeostasis. This results in networks capable of representing input heterogeneity, and linearly responding over a broader range of inputs than those undergoing non-diffusive homeostasis. We further show that these properties are preserved when homeostatic and Hebbian plasticity are combined. These results suggest a mechanism for dynamically maintaining neural heterogeneity, and expose computational advantages of non-local homeostatic processes. |
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ISSN: | 1553-734X 1553-7358 |