Functional connectivity driven by external stimuli in a network of hierarchically organized neural modules

Abstract

Complex neural modules with embedded neural development and synaptic plasticity features have been connected to form a hierarchical recurrent circuit. Virtual electrodes have been used to record a "neural" generated signal, called electrochipogram EChG, from each module. The EChG are processed by frequency domain methods to determine the modifications in functional connectivity by assessing quadratic phase coupling. The experimental paradigm is aimed to describe what happened prior to, at the beginning, towards the end, and after repeating an external input at fixed frequency. The results are discussed by comparing with the same signal processing methods applied to a human study. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.