In a paper published in the American Institute of Physics’ journal Chaos<\/em>, an international team of researchers from China, Hong Kong, and Australia explores connections between neuronal avalanches and a model of learning \u2013 a rule for how neurons “choose” to connect among themselves in response to stimuli<\/strong>. The learning model, called spike time-dependent plasticity, is based on observations of real behavior in the<\/strong> brain.<\/strong><\/p>\n The researchers’ simulations reveal that the complex neuronal circuit obtained from the learning model would also be good at generating neuronal avalanches<\/strong>. This agreement between the model and a real, proven behavior of neurons suggests that the learning model is an accurate way to describe how the brain processes information.<\/p>\n The authors say their work could aid an understanding of how learning could lead to the formation of cortical structures in the brain<\/strong>, as well as why the resulting structures are so efficient at processing large amounts of information<\/strong>. “While [the finding] is entirely consistent with existing neurophysiology, our work is the first to provide this concrete link” between this particular learning rule and neuronal avalanches, says co-author Michael Small of the University of Western Australia. “It provides a simple, and therefore perhaps surprising, explanation for how a system as complex as the cortex can generate such striking collective behavior.”<\/p>\n More information:<\/strong> doi: 10.1063\/1.3701946<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the American Institute of Physics press release via MedicalXpress: The brain’s neurons are coupled together into vast and complex networks called circuits. Yet despite their complexity, these circuits are… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[42,19],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2751"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2753,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2751\/revisions\/2753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/images\/blogpics\/Neuron.jpg\" "\\"neuron\\"")
The brain’s neurons are coupled together into vast and complex networks called circuits. <\/strong>Yet despite their complexity, these circuits are capable of displaying striking examples of collective behavior such as the phenomenon known as “neuronal avalanches,”<\/strong> brief bursts of activity in a group of interconnected neurons that set off a cascade of increasing excitation.<\/p>\n