Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Optimal synaptic dynamics for memory maintenance in the presence of noise

Dhruva V Raman, View ORCID ProfileTimothy O’Leary
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.19.257220
Dhruva V Raman
1Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Timothy O’Leary
1Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Timothy O’Leary
  • For correspondence: tso24@cam.ac.uk
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

Synaptic connections in many brain areas have been found to fluctuate significantly, with substantial turnover and remodelling occurring over hours to days. Remarkably, this flux in connectivity persists in the absence of overt learning or behavioural change. What proportion of these ongoing fluctuations can be attributed to systematic plasticity processes that maintain memories and neural circuit function? We show under general conditions that the optimal magnitude of systematic plasticity is typically less than the magnitude of perturbations due to internal biological noise. Thus, for any given amount of unavoidable noise, 50% or more of total synaptic turnover should be effectively random for optimal memory maintenance. Our analysis does not depend on specific neural circuit architectures or plasticity mechanisms and predicts previously unexplained experimental measurements of the activity-dependent component of ongoing plasticity.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted August 19, 2020.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Optimal synaptic dynamics for memory maintenance in the presence of noise
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Optimal synaptic dynamics for memory maintenance in the presence of noise
Dhruva V Raman, Timothy O’Leary
bioRxiv 2020.08.19.257220; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.19.257220
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Optimal synaptic dynamics for memory maintenance in the presence of noise
Dhruva V Raman, Timothy O’Leary
bioRxiv 2020.08.19.257220; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.08.19.257220

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4085)
  • Biochemistry (8755)
  • Bioengineering (6477)
  • Bioinformatics (23331)
  • Biophysics (11740)
  • Cancer Biology (9144)
  • Cell Biology (13237)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7410)
  • Ecology (11364)
  • Epidemiology (2066)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15084)
  • Genetics (10397)
  • Genomics (14006)
  • Immunology (9115)
  • Microbiology (22036)
  • Molecular Biology (8777)
  • Neuroscience (47345)
  • Paleontology (350)
  • Pathology (1420)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2480)
  • Physiology (3703)
  • Plant Biology (8045)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1431)
  • Synthetic Biology (2207)
  • Systems Biology (6014)
  • Zoology (1249)