Emergence and fragmentation of the alpha-band driven by neuronal network dynamics

Zonca, Lou; Holcman, David

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/JOURNAL.PCBI.1009639

Emergence and fragmentation of the alpha-band driven by neuronal network dynamics

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Zonca L, Holcman D. Emergence and fragmentation of the alpha-band driven by neuronal network dynamics. PLoS Comput Biol. 2021;17(12):e1009639. DOI: 10.1371/JOURNAL.PCBI.1009639

Abstract

Rhythmic neuronal network activity underlies brain oscillations. To investigate how connected neuronal networks contribute to the emergence of the band and to the regulation of Up and Down states, we study a model based on synaptic short-term depression-facilitation with afterhyperpolarization (AHP). We found that the band is generated by the network behavior near the attractor of the Up-state. Coupling inhibitory and excitatory networks by reciprocal connections leads to the emergence of a stable band during the Up states, as reflected in the spectrogram. To better characterize the emergence and stability of thalamocortical oscillations containing and rhythms during anesthesia, we model the interaction of two excitatory networks with one inhibitory network, showing that this minimal topology underlies the generation of a persistent band in the neuronal voltage characterized by dominant Up over Down states. Finally, we show that the emergence of the band appears when external inputs are suppressed, while fragmentation occurs at small synaptic noise or with increasing inhibitory inputs. To conclude, oscillations could result from the synaptic dynamics of interacting excitatory neuronal networks with and without AHP, a principle that could apply to other rhythms.