Modulating the Precision of Recurrent Bursts in Cultured Neural Networks

Abstract

Synchronized bursts are a very common feature in biological neural networks, and they play an important role in various brain functions and neurological diseases. This Letter investigates "recurrent synchronized bursts" induced by a single pulse stimulation in cultured networks of rat cortical neurons. We look at how the precision in their arrival times can be modified by a noble time-delayed stimulation protocol, which we term as "Delta t training." The emergence of recurrent bursts and the change of the precision in their arrival times can be explained by the stochastic resonance of a damped, subthreshold, neural oscillation.