Bernstein-Gruppe Components of cognition: small networks to flexible rules: Collective behaviour of spiking neurons and plastic synapses

We aim to develop tools for the subsequent stages of signal analysis of extracellular MEA recordings concerning (1) the detection of extracellular correlates of neuronal action potentials ( spikes ), and (2) the analysis of the spatio-temporal structure of neuronal firing in response to electrical or pharmacological stimuli. Classification of spontaneous activity modes observed in cell culture will be analyzed by spatiotemporal pattern recognition. Temporally, spikes are often arranged in bursts of activity, followed by periods of silence. This can either occur at the level of single electrodes, multiple electrodes, or across the entire network. Different algorithms of spike pattern recognition (signal integration, heuristic, string method, entropy-based, surprise) will be implemented and compared.