Topic: inhibition-stabilized network

Understanding the basis of shared, across trial fluctuations in neural activity in mammalian cortex is critical to uncovering the nature of information processing in the brain. This correlated variability has often been related to the structure of cortical connectivity since variability not accounted for by signal changes likely arises from local circuit inputs. However, recent recordings from segregated networks of excitatory neurons in mouse primary visual cortex (V1) complicate this relationship. These results found that despite weak cross-network connection probability, noise correlations

Recent experiments have revealed that visual cortex operates as an inhibition-stabilized network (ISN), in which unstable excitatory coupling is balanced by strong inhibition. Computational models like the stabilized supralinear network (SSN) describe the mechanisms behind this regime, and also postulate that a transition occurs from non-ISN to ISN dynamics with increasing visual input. However, while some studies find input-dependent effects that support a shift in dynamical regime, others have shown ISN-like dynamics in the spontaneous state, leaving open questions about the existence and na