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Local adaptations of two naturally occurring neuronal conductances, gK+(A) and gK+(Ca), allow for associative conditioning and contiguity judgements in artificial neural networks

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Abstract

Features of two potassium conductances implicated in the acquisition of conditioned reflexes, the slow calcium dependent conductance (gK+(Ca)) and the fast transient conductance (gK+(A)), were incorporated into a 6 × 6 element artificial neural network. Adaptive algorithms derived from observations of cortical neurons during associative learning changed gK+(A) in proportion to the product of this current and an EPSP-induced second messenger concentration, and changed gK+(Ca) as a function of a spike-induced second messenger concentration. This network concurrently acquired two distinct representations in response to presentation of stimuli: one resembled associative conditioning (defined in terms of its senstivity to forward pairing vs. simultaneous or backward pairing); the other reflected contiguous pairings of stimuli. The acquisition of one representation did not markedly interfere with acquisition of the other. This network may accordingly serve as an example of a self-organizing system which minimizes the postulated inherent cross talk between functionally dissiminar representations (Minsky and Papert 1988).

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Berner, J., Woody, C.D. Local adaptations of two naturally occurring neuronal conductances, gK+(A) and gK+(Ca), allow for associative conditioning and contiguity judgements in artificial neural networks. Biol. Cybern. 66, 79–86 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196455

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00196455

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