Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-8644
Authors: Becker, Sophia
Nold, Andreas
Tchumatchenko, Tatjana
Title: Modulation of working memory duration by synaptic and astrocytic mechanisms
Online publication date: 25-Jan-2023
Year of first publication: 2022
Language: english
Abstract: Short-term synaptic plasticity and modulations of the presynaptic vesicle release rate are key components of many working memory models. At the same time, an increasing number of studies suggests a potential role of astrocytes in modulating higher cognitive function such as WM through their influence on synaptic transmission. Which influence astrocytic signaling could have on the stability and duration of WM representations, however, is still unclear. Here, we introduce a slow, activity-dependent astrocytic regulation of the presynaptic release probability in a synaptic attractor model of WM. We compare and analyze simulations of a simple WM protocol in firing rate and spiking networks with and without astrocytic regulation, and underpin our observations with analyses of the phase space dynamics in the rate network. We find that the duration and stability of working memory representations are altered by astrocytic signaling and by noise. We show that astrocytic signaling modulates the mean duration of WM representations. Moreover, if the astrocytic regulation is strong, a slow presynaptic timescale introduces a ‘window of vulnerability’, during which WM representations are easily disruptable by noise before being stabilized. We identify two mechanisms through which noise from different sources in the network can either stabilize or destabilize WM representations. Our findings suggest that (i) astrocytic regulation can act as a crucial determinant for the duration of WM representations in synaptic attractor models of WM, and (ii) that astrocytic signaling could facilitate different mechanisms for volitional top-down control of WM representations and their duration.
DDC: 610 Medizin
610 Medical sciences
Institution: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Department: FB 04 Medizin
Place: Mainz
ROR: https://ror.org/023b0x485
DOI: http://doi.org/10.25358/openscience-8644
Version: Published version
Publication type: Zeitschriftenaufsatz
Document type specification: Scientific article
License: CC BY
Information on rights of use: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Journal: PLoS Computational Biology
18
10
Pages or article number: e1010543
Publisher: Public Library of Science
Publisher place: San Francisco, Calif.
Issue date: 2022
ISSN: 1553-734X
1553-7358
Publisher DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010543
Appears in collections:DFG-491381577-G

Files in This Item:
  File Description SizeFormat
Thumbnail
modulation_of_working_memory_-20230124123548765.pdf10.49 MBAdobe PDFView/Open