PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Nowotny, Thomas
AU  - Zhigulin, Valentin P.
AU  - Selverston, Allan I.
AU  - Abarbanel, Henry D. I.
AU  - Rabinovich, Mikhail I.
TI  - Enhancement of Synchronization in a Hybrid Neural Circuit by Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity
AID  - 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.23-30-09776.2003
DP  - 2003 Oct 29
TA  - The Journal of Neuroscience
PG  - 9776--9785
VI  - 23
IP  - 30
4099  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/23/30/9776.short
4100  - http://www.jneurosci.org/content/23/30/9776.full
SO  - J. Neurosci.2003 Oct 29; 23
AB  - Synchronization of neural activity is fundamental for many functions of the brain. We demonstrate that spike-timing dependent plasticity (STDP) enhances synchronization (entrainment) in a hybrid circuit composed of a spike generator, a dynamic clamp emulating an excitatory plastic synapse, and a chemically isolated neuron from the Aplysia abdominal ganglion. Fixed-phase entrainment of the Aplysia neuron to the spike generator is possible for a much wider range of frequency ratios and is more precise and more robust with the plastic synapse than with a nonplastic synapse of comparable strength. Further analysis in a computational model of Hodgkin–Huxley-type neurons reveals the mechanism behind this significant enhancement in synchronization. The experimentally observed STDP plasticity curve appears to be designed to adjust synaptic strength to a value suitable for stable entrainment of the postsynaptic neuron. One functional role of STDP might therefore be to facilitate synchronization or entrainment of nonidentical neurons.