Neuronal avalanche induced by multiplicative spike-timing-dependent plasticity

Recent studies in the field of neuroscience have reported that neuronal avalanches are observed in the cultured cortical slice of the brain. The neuronal avalanches are considered as one of the mechanisms of memory functions in the brain. However, it still remains elusive what is a key factor to produce neuronal avalanches. To clarify this issue, we considered spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) as a candidate for the mechanism to induce the neuronal avalanches because STDP constructs functional cortical circuits. In this paper, based on this idea, we analyzed neuronal activities in networks constructed through STDP from viewpoints of neuronal avalanche. As a result, comparing “additive” and “multiplicative” STDP, “multiplicative” STDP could realize more similar properties of neuronal avalanche observed in the cultured cortical slice.