https://www.wwtns.online - on twitter: wwtns@TheoreticalWide

You are cordially invited to the lecture

David Clark

Kempner Institute at Harvard University

on the topic of

Computation Through Neuronal-Synaptic Dynamics

The lecture will be held on zoom on January 14, 2026, at 11:00 am ET

To receive the link: https://www.wwtns.online/register-page

Abstract: Computations in neural circuits are often construed as being implemented through the coordinated dynamics of neurons. In this picture, the role of synaptic connectivity is to sculpt neuronal dynamics to implement computations of interest. Of course, synapses are not static but change on a variety of timescales, including fast timescales comparable to those of neurons. Thus, a more accurate view of computation in neural circuits may involve the coupled dynamics of neurons and synapses. This form of computation is closer to what is implemented by Transformers via an equivalence between ongoing synaptic plasticity and self-attention. I will first describe a nonlinear recurrent neural-network model with ongoing Hebbian dynamics of “fast” synapses atop unstructured “slow” synapses. I will then describe two computations implemented through neuronal-synaptic dynamics, which can be studied in this model using techniques including dynamical mean-field theory and random-matrix theory. First, there exists a novel phase termed “freezable chaos” in which a stable fixed point of neuronal dynamics is continuously destabilized by synaptic dynamics. This allows for the creation of a stable fixed point at any neuronal state visited by the network by halting synaptic plasticity. Second, I will describe an effect termed “persistent oscillations” in which, following stimulation by a periodic signal, a plastic network continues to autonomously reproduce a similar signal for a duration exceeding any intrinsic timescale in the system. Thus, ongoing Hebbian plasticity can provide a dynamic form of working memory, complementing the static form provided by freezable chaos. Ongoing experimental work suggests that this effect is realized in cortical organoids. Overall, this line of work suggests that synapses should be promoted to first-class dynamical degrees of freedom in our conceptual understanding of neural-circuit function.

About VVTNS : Launched as the World Wide Theoretical Neuroscience Seminar (WWTNS) in November 2020 and renamed in homage to Carl van Vreeswijk in Memoriam (April 20, 2022), Speakers have the occasion to talk about theoretical aspects of their work which cannot be discussed in a setting where the majority of the audience consists of experimentalists. The seminars, held on Wednesdays at 11 am ET, are 45-50 min long followed by a discussion. The talks are recorded with authorization of the speaker and are available to everybody on our YouTube channel.

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"В каждой шутке есть доля шутки"

'Life is good ..' (Carl van Vreeswijk, 1962-2022)

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David Hansel
Directeur de Recherche au CNRS

Co-Group leader
Cerebral Dynamics Plasticity and Learning lab., CNRS
45 rue des Saints Peres 75270 Paris Cedex 06
Tel (Cell): +33 607508403 - Fax (33).1.49.27.90.62

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