Dynamics of spatio-temporal patterns in associative networks of spiking neurons

Abstract This paper studies dynamical properties of spatio-temporal pattern sequences (‘synfire chains’) in associative networks of spiking neurons. Employing postsynaptic potentials with a finite rise time, the replay speed of stored sequences can be controled by unspecific background signals. In addition, the speed also depends on the number of co-activated sequences, but balanced inhibition can prevent this dependency. An implicit equation is derived and solved numerically which relates the speed to the network parameters. Simulations reveal instabilities for low and high control signals, which are traced back to four different destabilizing mechanisms.