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@INPROCEEDINGS{VanDael:1047420,
author = {Van Dael, Lies and Pronold, Jari and Shimoura, Renan and
Rostami, Vahid and Morales-Gregorio, Aitor and van Albada,
Sacha},
title = {{J}oint excitatory-inhibitory clustering supports realistic
spiking statistics and signal propagation},
reportid = {FZJ-2025-04289},
year = {2025},
abstract = {The connectivity among billions of neurons underlies the
brain’s cognitive and information processing functions.
Fully characterizing the single-neuron structural
connectivity of the entire brain is technically not
feasible. Furthermore, most studies focus on a single scale
(population, area or single-neuron level); thus, bridging
brain scales remains a challenge in neuroscience.
Experimental data indicate that neuronal connections in the
cerebral cortex are clustered, with stronger connections
within clusters and weaker ones across them. Previous models
linked such clustering to observed cortical activity.
However, the mechanisms governing large-scale cortical
dynamics - specifically reliable inter-area signal
propagation, while maintaining stable activity and realistic
spiking statistics- remain unclear. This study examines how
joint clustering of excitatory and inhibitory cells
contributes to explaining these dynamics. We hypothesize
that local cortical circuits form joint clusters of
excitatory and inhibitory neurons, and explore how this
affects resting-state activity, inter-area signal
transmission, and trial-to-trial variability. Building on a
previously developed unclustered spiking neural network
model of all vision-related areas in one hemisphere of the
macaque cortex, each cortical area is modeled by a 1 mm2
microcircuit with biologically realistic neuron and synapse
densities, avoiding downscaling artifacts. We extend this by
subdividing each area equally into a number of joint
excitatory-inhibitory clusters. Figure 1 schematically shows
this organization.Validation against in vivo resting-state
data reveals that the model with joint clusters of
excitatory and inhibitory cells matches observed activity
better than the unclustered model, in terms of firing
behavior, firing rate distributions, and inter-spike
interval variability. This type of clustering also enables
reliable signal propagation across areas in feedforward and
feedback directions, with biologically plausible response
latencies. Finally, the clustered model reproduces the
experimentally observed phenomenon of reduced trial-to-trial
variability in response to stimulus onset.To conclude, these
results demonstrate that joint clustering of excitatory and
inhibitory neurons is a plausible organizational principle
of local cortical circuits. This architecture simultaneously
supports resting-state spiking statistics, inter-area signal
propagation, and trial-to-trial variability dynamics.},
month = {Sep},
date = {2025-09-29},
organization = {Bernstein Conference, Frankfurt am
Main (Germany), 29 Sep 2025 - 2 Oct
2025},
subtyp = {Other},
cin = {IAS-6},
cid = {I:(DE-Juel1)IAS-6-20130828},
pnm = {5231 - Neuroscientific Foundations (POF4-523) / HBP SGA2 -
Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 2 (785907) /
HBP SGA3 - Human Brain Project Specific Grant Agreement 3
(945539) / GRK 2416 - GRK 2416: MultiSenses-MultiScales:
Neue Ansätze zur Aufklärung neuronaler multisensorischer
Integration (368482240) / DFG project G:(GEPRIS)313856816 -
SPP 2041: Computational Connectomics (313856816) /
Brain-Scale Simulations $(jinb33_20220812)$},
pid = {G:(DE-HGF)POF4-5231 / G:(EU-Grant)785907 /
G:(EU-Grant)945539 / G:(GEPRIS)368482240 /
G:(GEPRIS)313856816 / $G:(DE-Juel1)jinb33_20220812$},
typ = {PUB:(DE-HGF)24},
url = {https://juser.fz-juelich.de/record/1047420},
}