Anatomy and Plasticity in Large-Scale Brain Models

Edited by Markus Butz, Wolfram Schenck, and Arjen van Ooyen
Frontiers Research Topic Ebook, Frontiers Media SA, 2016
ISBN 9782889450657
173 pages

Supercomputing facilities are becoming increasingly available for simulating activity dynamics in large-scale neuronal networks. On today's most advanced supercomputers, networks with up to a billion of neurons can be readily simulated. However, building biologically realistic, full-scale brain models requires more than just a huge number of neurons. In addition to network size, the detailed local and global anatomy of neuronal connections is of crucial importance. Moreover, anatomical connectivity is not fixed, but can rewire throughout life (structural plasticity)—an aspect that is missing in most current network models, in which plasticity is confined to changes in synaptic strength (synaptic plasticity).

The papers in this Ebook, which may broadly be divided into three themes, aim to bring together high-performance computing with recent experimental and computational research in neuroanatomy. In the first theme (fiber connectivity), new methods are described for measuring and data-basing microscopic and macroscopic connectivity. In the second theme (structural plasticity), novel models are introduced that incorporate morphological plasticity and rewiring of anatomical connections. In the third theme (large-scale simulations), simulations of large-scale neuronal networks are presented with an emphasis on anatomical detail and plasticity mechanisms. Together, the articles in this Ebook inform the reader about the methods and models by which large-scale brain networks running on supercomputers can be extended to include anatomical detail and plasticity.

To download the Ebook, go to Frontiers Books.

Book contents:

Introduction

Table of contents

1. Editorial: Anatomy and plasticity in large-scale brain models
   Markus Butz, Wolfram Schenck, and Arjen van Ooyen
   [Abstract] [Full text: PDF]

   Fiber Connectivity
   

2. Estimating fiber orientation distribution functions in 3D-polarized light imaging
   Markus Axer, Sven Strohmer, David Gräßel, Oliver Bücker, Melanie Dohmen, Julia Reckfort, Karl Zilles, and Katrin Amunts

3. 3D reconstructed cyto-, muscarinic M2 receptor, and fiber architecture of the rat brain registered to the Waxholm Space Atlas
   Nicole Schubert, Markus Axer, Martin Schober, Anh-Minh Huynh, Marcel Huysegoms, Nicola Palomero-Gallagher, Jan G. Bjaalie, Trygve B. Leergaard, Mehmet E. Kirlangic, Katrin Amunts, and Karl Zilles

   Structural Plasticity
   

4. Opposing effects of neuronal activity on structural plasticity
   Michael Fauth and Christian Tetzlaff

5. REMOD: a tool for analyzing and remodeling the dendritic architecture of neural cells
   Panagiotis Bozelos, Stefanos S. Stefanou, Georgios Bouloukakis, Constantinos Melachrinos, and Panayiota Poirazi

6. Automatic generation of connectivity for large-scale neuronal network models through structural plasticity
   Sandra Diaz-Pier, Mikaël Naveau, Markus Butz-Ostendorf, and Abigail Morrison

7. Structural plasticity, effectual connectivity, and memory in cortex
   Andreas Knoblauch and Friedrich T. Sommer

   Large-Scale Simulations
   

8. Anatomically detailed and large-scale simulations studying synapse loss and synchrony using NeuroBox
   Markus Breit, Martin Stepniewski, Stephan Grein, Pascal Gottmann, Lukas Reinhardt, and Gillian Queisser

9. Real-world-time simulation of memory consolidation in a large-scale cerebellar model
   Masato Gosui and Tadashi Yamazaki

10. Large-scale simulations of plastic neural networks on neuromorphic hardware
    James C. Knight, Philip J. Tully, Bernhard A. Kaplan, Anders Lansner, and Steve B. Furber

11. Odor experience facilitates sparse representations of new odors in a large-scale olfactory bulb model
    Shanglin Zhou, Michele Migliore, and Yuguo Yu

12. Closed-loop brain model of neocortical information-based exchange
    James Kozloski