Stdp Produces Robust Oscillatory Architectures That Exhibit Precise Collective Synchronization

It has been proposed that oscillating groups of neurons firing synchronously provide a mechanism that underlies many cognitive functions. In previous work, it has been demonstrated that, in a network of excitatory and inhibitory neurons, a synchronous response gradually emerges due to spike timing dependant plasticity (STDP) acting upon an external spatio-temporal stimulus that is repeatedly applied. This paper builds on these findings by addressing two questions relating to STDP and network dynamics in the context of pyramidal inter-neuronal gamma (PING) network architectures. Firstly, how does the choice of neuron model affect the learning of oscillation through STDP? Our experiments suggest that the earlier results hinge on the selection of a simple, biologically less realistic neuron model. Secondly, how do neural oscillators that have learned to oscillate only in response to a particular stimulus behave when connected to other such neural oscillators? We investigate this question in the context of a network of PING oscillators, in order to understand the relationship between coupling strength and the onset of synchrony, emulating the results of a classic experiment by Kuramoto.