Anticipated Synchronization in a Biologically Plausible Model of Neuronal Motifs

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates anticipated synchronization in a biologically plausible neuronal microcircuit, showing a transition from delayed to anticipated synchronization driven by inhibitory synaptic conductance, with implications for spike-timing-dependent plasticity.

Contribution

It introduces a realistic neuronal microcircuit model exhibiting anticipated synchronization, bridging the gap between theoretical models and biological neural systems.

Findings

Transition from delayed to anticipated synchronization with increased inhibitory conductance

Robustness of the phenomenon within physiological parameter ranges

Potential implications for spike-timing-dependent plasticity mechanisms

Abstract

Two identical autonomous dynamical systems coupled in a master-slave configuration can exhibit anticipated synchronization (AS) if the slave also receives a delayed negative self-feedback. Recently, AS was shown to occur in systems of simplified neuron models, requiring the coupling of the neuronal membrane potential with its delayed value. However, this coupling has no obvious biological correlate. Here we propose a canonical neuronal microcircuit with standard chemical synapses, where the delayed inhibition is provided by an interneuron. In this biologically plausible scenario, a smooth transition from delayed synchronization (DS) to AS typically occurs when the inhibitory synaptic conductance is increased. The phenomenon is shown to be robust when model parameters are varied within physiological range. Since the DS-AS transition amounts to an inversion in the timing of the pre- and post-synaptic spikes, our results could have a bearing on spike-timing-dependent-plasticity models.