Abstract
Several studies have looked into how noise affects neural networks and actual brains as evidenced by transcranial random noise stimulation, which improves cognitive performance. This research aims to broaden this understanding by concentrating on the network structural heterogeneity realized by adding noise to a neural model network’s axonal propagation delay. We utilized the pyNEST neural network simulator to model a network of 400 artificial Izhikevich neurons connected by a folded von Neumann neighborhood to form a toroidal shape where axonal propagation noise simulates a variable spatial spacing between neurons. In this network only one neuron is regularly spiking at first because it is specifically stimulated by a 10mA external current, while all the other neurons have no external input and are stimulated solely by the activity of their neighbors. The forward propagation of the spiking wave from the original neuron to its neighbors, and then to distant nodes on the toroidal network, was investigated. For each simulation, we recorded the activity of all the network changing several parameters to verify differences of spike activity in different positions on the torus. By manipulating heterogeneity, we discovered that adding noise helps the signal reach distant neurons in 20% less time, compared to when there is no heterogeneity. We demonstrated for the first time that structural heterogeneity in a neural network can favor the propagation of spiking waves. This result is in line with other findings that suggest that a certain level of noise is good for the brain, extending this concept to the network physical structure.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
It is just reported a part of the demonstration.
References
Winfree AT. The geometry of biological time. New York: Springer. 2001;12:2971–4. ISSN 978-1-4757-3484-3. https://doi.org/10.1038/35065725.
Shannon CE. A mathematical theory of communication. Bell Syst Tech J. 1948;27:373–423. 623–656.
Koch C, Laurent G. Complexity and the nervous system. Science. 1999;284:96–8. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.284.5411.96.
Stacey WC, Durand DM. Stochastic resonance improves signal detection in hippocampal ca1 neurons. J Neurophysiol. 2000;83(3). https://doi.org/10.1152/jn.2000.83.3.1394.
Perez-Nieves N, Leung VCH, Dragotti PL, et al. Neural heterogeneity promotes robust learning. Nat Commun. 2021;12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26022-3.
Moret B, Donato R, Nucci M, et al. Transcranial random noise stimulation (TRNS): a wide range of frequencies is needed for increasing cortical excitability. Sci Report. 2019;9. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-51553-7.
Faisal AA, Selen LPJ, Wolpert DM. Noise in the nervous system. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2008;9. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2258.
von Neumann J. Probabilistic logics and the synthesis of reliable organisms from unreliable components. Automata Studies. 1956;34:45–99.
Gardner RJ, Hermansen E, Pachitariu M, Burak Y, Baas N, Dunn BA, Moser M, Moser EI. Toroidal topology of population activity in grid cells. Nature. 2022;602. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-021-04268-7.
Schwiening CJ. A brief historical perspective: Hodgkin and Huxley. J Physiol. 2012;590(11). https://doi.org/10.1113/jphysiol.2012.230458.
Izhikevich EM. Simple model of spiking neurons. IEEE Trans Neural Netw. 2003;14(6).
Wu C, Li Y, Chai S. Design and simulation of a torus topology for network on chip. J Syst Eng Electron. 2008;19:694.
Tzedakis G, Tzamali E, Marias K, Sakkalis V. Routes to chaos induced by a discontinuous resetting process in a hybrid spiking neuron model. Cancer Informat. 2015;14. https://doi.org/10.4137/CIN.S19343.
Suwanda R, Syahputra Z, Zamzami EM. Analysis of euclidean distance and manhattan distance in the k-means algorithm for variations number of centroid k. J Phys. 2019;1566:696.
Eppler J, Helias M, Muller E, Diesmann M, Gewaltig M-O. Pynest: a convenient interface to the nest simulator. Front Neuroinform. 2009;2(12). ISSN 1662-5196. https://doi.org/10.3389/neuro.11.012.2008.
Gewaltig MO, Morrison A, Plesser HE. Nest by example: An introduction to the neural simulation tool nest. Computational Systems Neurobiology. 2012;533–558. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3858-4_18.
Nobukawa S, Nishimura H, Yamanishi T. The importance of neighborhood scheme selection in agent-based tumor growth modeling. Sci Report 2018;8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-18783-z.
Coli M, Palazzari P, Rughi R. The toroidal neural networks. 2000 IEEE International Symposium on Circuits and Systems (ISCAS). 2000;4:137–140 vol. 4. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCAS.2000.858707.
Expert P, Lord LD, Kringelbach ML, Petri G. Editorial: Topological neuroscience. Network Neuroscience. 2019;3(3). https://doi.org/10.1162/netn_e_00096.
Tozzi A, James FP. Towards a fourth spatial dimension of brain activity. Cogn Neurodyn. 2016;10(3). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11571-016-9379-z.
Madadi Asl M, Valizadeh A, Tass P. Dendritic and axonal propagation delays determine emergent structures of neuronal networks with plastic synapses. Sci Report. 2017;7. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep39682.
Schneider A, Hommel G, Blettner M. Linear regression analysis: part 14 of a series on evaluation of scientific publications. Dtsch Arztebl Int. 2010;107(44). https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2010.0776.
Chrysafides SM, Bordes S, Sharma S. Physiology, resting potential. NCBI National Center for Biotechnology. 2021.
Aldrich SB. The use of multiple neurotransmitters at synapses. Synaptic Transmission. 2019;449–480. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-815320-8.00021-1.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.
Conflicts of Interest
Marcello Salustri declares that he has no conflict of interest. Ruggero Micheletto declares that he has no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supported by the Yokohama City University
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Salustri, M., Micheletto, R. Heterogeneous Axonal Delay Improves the Spiking Activity Propagation on a Toroidal Network. Cogn Comput 15, 1231–1242 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12559-022-10034-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12559-022-10034-2