Beyond the standard balanced network: Multiple timescales in cortical dynamics

• Applicant: Dr. Farzad Farkhooi
• Subject Area: Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2016 to 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 321340255

The balance hypothesis has been developed in computational neuroscience to explain the temporal irregularity of cortical activity. However, in its current form, the theory underpinning this hypothesis, dubbed the standard model (SM), cannot explain activity fluctuations observed in the range of ten up to a few hundred milliseconds. This collaborative and interdisciplinary proposal aims to extend the SM to account for these fluctuations. It will incorporate three previously neglected biophysical features in the SM: connectivity motifs in the network structure, slow and heterogeneous cellular dynamics and nonlinear dendritic computations. The project will investigate whether the inclusion of these neglected features into the SM exhibits activity dynamics beyond membrane time constants. Additionally, matching experimental observations require the appropriate scaling of synaptic strengths in theoretical models. Therefore, the proposed project will also investigate the impact of different scaling schemes in models of cortical networks under realistic conditions. To achieve these objectives, we will draw on methods from statistical mechanics, nonlinear dynamics and stochastic analysis along with numerical simulations.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants