Abdelrahman, N.Y. orcid.org/0000-0003-3198-3225, Vasilaki, E. orcid.org/0000-0003-3705-7070 and Lin, A.C. orcid.org/0000-0001-6310-9765 (Submitted: 2021) Compensatory variability in network parameters enhances memory performance in the Drosophila mushroom body. bioRxiv. (Submitted)
Abstract
Neural circuits use homeostatic compensation to achieve consistent behaviour despite variability in underlying intrinsic and network parameters. However, it remains unclear how compensation regulates variability across a population of the same type of neurons within an individual, and what computational benefits might result from such compensation. We address these questions in the Drosophila mushroom body, the fly’s olfactory memory center. In a computational model, we show that memory performance is degraded when the mushroom body’s principal neurons, Kenyon cells (KCs), vary realistically in key parameters governing their excitability, because the resulting inter-KC variability in average activity levels makes odor representations less separable. However, memory performance is rescued while maintaining realistic variability if parameters compensate for each other to equalize KC average activity. Such compensation can be achieved through both activity-dependent and activity-independent mechanisms. Finally, we show that correlations predicted by our model’s compensatory mechanisms appear in the Drosophila hemibrain connectome. These findings reveal compensatory variability in the mushroom body and describe its computational benefits for associative memory.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Article made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Computer Science (Sheffield) The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Biosciences (Sheffield) > Department of Biomedical Science (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 19 Feb 2021 12:11 |
Last Modified: | 22 Feb 2021 09:07 |
Status: | Submitted |
Publisher: | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory |
Identification Number: | 10.1101/2021.02.03.429444 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:171061 |