Biology subjects

Devalle, F.

Publications and source records attributed to Devalle, F..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2024

Representational drift as the consequence of ongoing memory storage

Memory systems with biologically constrained synapses have been the topic of intense theoretical study for over thirty years. Perhaps the most fundamental and far-reaching finding from this work is that the storage of new memories implies the partial erasure of already-stored ones. This overwriting leads to a decorrelation of sensory-driven activity patterns over time, even if the input patterns remain similar. Representational drift (RD) should therefore be an expected and inevitable consequence of ongoing memory storage. We tested this hypothesis by fitting a network model to data from long-term chronic calcium imaging experiments in mouse hippocampus. Synaptic turnover in the model inputs, consistent with the ongoing encoding of new activity patterns, accounted for the observed statistics of RD. This mechanism also provides a parsimonious explanation for the diverse effects of experience on drift found in experiment. Our results suggest that RD should be observed wherever neuronal circuits are involved in a process of ongoing learning or memory storage.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Network mechanisms underlying representational drift in area CA1 of hippocampus

Chronic imaging experiments in mice have revealed that the hippocampal code drifts over long time scales. Specifically, the subset of cells which are active on any given session in a familiar environment changes over the course of days and weeks. While some cells transition into or out of the code after a few sessions, others are stable over the entire experiment. Similar representational drift has also been observed in other cortical areas, raising the possibility of a common underlying mechanism, which, however, remains unknown. Here we show, through quantitative fitting of a network model to experimental data, that the statistics of representational drift in CA1 pyramidal cells are consistent with ongoing synaptic turnover in the main excitatory inputs to a neuronal circuit operating in the balanced regime. We find two distinct time-scales of drift: a fast shift in overall excitability with characteristic time-scale of two days, and a slower drift in spatially modulated input on the order of about one month. The observed heterogeneity in single-cell properties, including long-term stability, are explained by variability arising from random changes in the number of active inputs to cells from one session to the next. We furthermore show that these changes are, in turn, consistent with an ongoing process of learning via a Hebbian plasticity rule. We conclude that representational drift is the hallmark of a memory system which continually encodes new information.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Fluctuation-driven plasticity allows for flexible rewiring of neuronal assemblies

Synaptic connections in neuronal circuits are modulated by pre- and post-synaptic spiking activity. Heuristic models of this process of synaptic plasticity can provide excellent fits to results from in-vitro experiments in which pre- and post-synaptic spiking is varied in a controlled fashion. However, the plasticity rules inferred from fitting such data are inevitably unstable, in that given constant pre- and post-synaptic activity the synapse will either fully potentiate or depress. This instability can be held in check by adding additional mechanisms, such as homeostasis. Here we consider an alternative scenario in which the plasticity rule itself is stable. When this is the case, net potentiation or depression only occur when pre- and post-synaptic activity vary in time, e.g. when driven by time-varying inputs. We study how the features of such inputs shape the recurrent synaptic connections in models of neuronal circuits. In the case of oscillatory inputs, the resulting structure is strongly affected by the phase relationship between drive to different neurons. In large networks, distributed phases tend to lead to hierarchical clustering. Our results may be of relevance for understanding the effect of sensory-driven inputs, which are by nature time-varying, on synaptic plasticity, and hence on learning and memory.

neuroscience↗