A biophysically-based neuromorphic model of spike rate- and timing-dependent plasticity

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Dec 6;108(49):E1266-74. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1106161108. Epub 2011 Nov 16.

Abstract

Current advances in neuromorphic engineering have made it possible to emulate complex neuronal ion channel and intracellular ionic dynamics in real time using highly compact and power-efficient complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) analog very-large-scale-integrated circuit technology. Recently, there has been growing interest in the neuromorphic emulation of the spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP) Hebbian learning rule by phenomenological modeling using CMOS, memristor or other analog devices. Here, we propose a CMOS circuit implementation of a biophysically grounded neuromorphic (iono-neuromorphic) model of synaptic plasticity that is capable of capturing both the spike rate-dependent plasticity (SRDP, of the Bienenstock-Cooper-Munro or BCM type) and STDP rules. The iono-neuromorphic model reproduces bidirectional synaptic changes with NMDA receptor-dependent and intracellular calcium-mediated long-term potentiation or long-term depression assuming retrograde endocannabinoid signaling as a second coincidence detector. Changes in excitatory or inhibitory synaptic weights are registered and stored in a nonvolatile and compact digital format analogous to the discrete insertion and removal of AMPA or GABA receptor channels. The versatile Hebbian synapse device is applicable to a variety of neuroprosthesis, brain-machine interface, neurorobotics, neuromimetic computation, machine learning, and neural-inspired adaptive control problems.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology*
  • Animals
  • Biophysical Phenomena
  • Calcium / metabolism
  • Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / physiology
  • Humans
  • Long-Term Potentiation / physiology
  • Long-Term Synaptic Depression / physiology
  • Metals / chemistry
  • Models, Neurological*
  • Nerve Net / metabolism
  • Nerve Net / physiology*
  • Neuronal Plasticity / physiology*
  • Neurons / metabolism
  • Neurons / physiology
  • Oxides / chemistry
  • Receptors, AMPA / physiology
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate / physiology
  • Semiconductors
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation
  • Synaptic Transmission / physiology
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Metals
  • Oxides
  • Receptors, AMPA
  • Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate
  • Calcium