Neural Network Model with Rhythm-Assimilation Capacity

Assimilation of a stimulus rhythm by certain nervous structures of vertebrate animals in a conditioning situation has been reported. A lateral-inhibition-type network of plastic pacemaker neurons is proposed to model such behavior. Through simulation, the network exhibits capacity to assimilate and encode in separate groups of neurons two successively presented frequencies. Learning of the second frequency does not disrupt memory of the first one. From the exploration of the effect of varying several factors upon the learning process-related to the connectivity, the intraneuronal functioning, the initial state, and the simulation conditions-it follows that the most influential factors are the proportion of excitatory connections over the total, the ratio between the ranges of the excitatory and the inhibitory connectivity, and the degree of intraneuronal randomness.