Modeling of Self-sustained Neuron Population without External Stimulus

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that a biophysically detailed recurrent neural network can sustain autonomous, sparse, and irregular activity for extended periods after a brief stimulus, without ongoing external input.

Contribution

It shows that Hodgkin-Huxley neuron networks with plasticity and stochasticity can maintain self-sustained activity post brief stimulation, advancing understanding of neural persistence mechanisms.

Findings

67% of neurons fired below 1 Hz during sustained activity

Population mean firing rate was approximately 1.13 Hz with high variability

Fano factors remained near 1-2, indicating irregular spike timing

Abstract

Self-sustained neural activity in the absence of ongoing external input is a fundamental feature of nervous system dynamics, yet the conditions under which it can emerge in biophysically grounded network models remain incompletely understood. We studied whether a recurrent network of Hodgkin-Huxley neurons with spike-timing-dependent plasticity and intrinsic stochasticity can maintain autonomous activity after brief transient stimulation. The simulated network comprised 200 neurons (160 excitatory, 40 inhibitory) with 80% connection probability, incorporating excitatory and inhibitory STDP, probabilistic vesicle release, probabilistic synapse formation, receptor variability, and voltage-dependent inhibition. After a brief 200 ms initialization stimulus to 30 excitatory neurons, the network received no further external input. In one 1800 s simulation and two additional 500 s simulations, the network maintained sparse, irregular activity without ongoing drive. In the 1800 s run, 67% of neurons exhibited mean firing rates below 1 Hz, the population mean firing rate was 1.13 +/- 1.34 Hz, participation increased across longer observation windows, and population-mean Fano factors remained near 1-2, consistent with irregular spike timing. Raster activity also showed spontaneous qualitative reorganizations in collective firing patterns over time. These findings suggest that recurrent Hodgkin-Huxley networks with plastic and stochastic synapses can sustain long-duration autonomous activity in a sparse firing regime after brief initialization.