@article{10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000022, doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000022}, author = {Kang, Siu AND Kitano, Katsunori AND Fukai, Tomoki}, journal = {PLOS Computational Biology}, publisher = {Public Library of Science}, title = {Structure of Spontaneous UP and DOWN Transitions Self-Organizing in a Cortical Network Model}, year = {2008}, month = {03}, volume = {4}, url = {https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000022}, pages = {1-12}, abstract = {Synaptic plasticity is considered to play a crucial role in the experience-dependent self-organization of local cortical networks. In the absence of sensory stimuli, cerebral cortex exhibits spontaneous membrane potential transitions between an UP and a DOWN state. To reveal how cortical networks develop spontaneous activity, or conversely, how spontaneous activity structures cortical networks, we analyze the self-organization of a recurrent network model of excitatory and inhibitory neurons, which is realistic enough to replicate UP–DOWN states, with spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP). The individual neurons in the self-organized network exhibit a variety of temporal patterns in the two-state transitions. In addition, the model develops a feed-forward network-like structure that produces a diverse repertoire of precise sequences of the UP state. Our model shows that the self-organized activity well resembles the spontaneous activity of cortical networks if STDP is accompanied by the pruning of weak synapses. These results suggest that the two-state membrane potential transitions play an active role in structuring local cortical circuits.}, number = {3}, }