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Astrocytes mediate analogous memory in a multi-layer neuron-astrocyte network

Tsybina, Yuliya; Kastalskiy, Innokentiy; Krivonosov, Mikhail; Zaikin, Alexey; Kazantsev, Victor; Gorban, Alexander N; Gordleeva, Susanna; (2022) Astrocytes mediate analogous memory in a multi-layer neuron-astrocyte network. Neural Computing and Applications 10.1007/s00521-022-06936-9. Green open access

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Abstract

Modeling the neuronal processes underlying short-term working memory remains the focus of many theoretical studies in neuroscience. In this paper, we propose a mathematical model of a spiking neural network (SNN) which simulates the way a fragment of information is maintained as a robust activity pattern for several seconds and the way it completely disappears if no other stimuli are fed to the system. Such short-term memory traces are preserved due to the activation of astrocytes accompanying the SNN. The astrocytes exhibit calcium transients at a time scale of seconds. These transients further modulate the efficiency of synaptic transmission and, hence, the firing rate of neighboring neurons at diverse timescales through gliotransmitter release. We demonstrate how such transients continuously encode frequencies of neuronal discharges and provide robust short-term storage of analogous information. This kind of short-term memory can store relevant information for seconds and then completely forget it to avoid overlapping with forthcoming patterns. The SNN is inter-connected with the astrocytic layer by local inter-cellular diffusive connections. The astrocytes are activated only when the neighboring neurons fire synchronously, e.g., when an information pattern is loaded. For illustration, we took grayscale photographs of people’s faces where the shades of gray correspond to the level of applied current which stimulates the neurons. The astrocyte feedback modulates (facilitates) synaptic transmission by varying the frequency of neuronal firing. We show how arbitrary patterns can be loaded, then stored for a certain interval of time, and retrieved if the appropriate clue pattern is applied to the input.

Type: Article
Title: Astrocytes mediate analogous memory in a multi-layer neuron-astrocyte network
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1007/s00521-022-06936-9
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00521-022-06936-9
Language: English
Additional information: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords: Science & Technology, Technology, Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Science, Spiking neural network, Astrocyte, Neuron-astrocyte interaction, Working memory, Image recognition, COMPUTATIONAL PRINCIPLES, DIGITAL IMPLEMENTATION, PERSISTENT ACTIVITY, GAP-JUNCTIONS, MODEL, SYNCHRONIZATION, PLASTICITY, SIGNALS
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL EGA Institute for Womens Health > Womens Cancer
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL EGA Institute for Womens Health
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10143778
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