Stimulus-Dependent Synchronization of Neuronal Assemblies

We study theoretically how an interaction between assemblies of neuronal oscillators can be modulated by the pattern of external stimuli. It is shown that spatial variations in the stimuli can control the magnitude and phase of the synchronization between the output of neurons with different receptive fields. This modulation emerges from cooperative dynamics in the network, without the need for specialized, activity-dependent synapses. Our results further suggest that the modulation of neuronal interactions by extended features of a stimulus may give rise to complex spatiotemporal fluctuations in the phases of neuronal oscillations.