Change of network dynamics in a neuro-robotic system

In the past, tetanic stimulation has been used in several different instances to induce changes in the firing patterns of neural networks in vitro. In this paper, we ran a new experimental campaign to verify if this protocol induced lasting changes and if those changes were predictable. We found out that our stimulation protocol led to different results in cortical and hippocampal preparations: in the first case, stronger connections were weakened, resulting in a reduction of bursting activity and late evoked response; in the case of hippocampal preparations, single strong connections underwent strong changes but, on average, remained unchanged. In both preparations, the geometry of induced changes remains largely uncorrelated with the actual site of stimulation delivery. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.