Topic: neuron density

Activity-dependent structural plasticity plays a pivotal role in the self-organization of neuronal networks. Emerging activity continuously feeds back into the growth process, regulating connectivity and activity homeostatically towards an optimal functional dynamic range. Transferred into cell culture, neurons follow the same homeostatic principles. They migrate and regrow neurites to establish synaptic connectivity and spontaneous network activity. Despite of homeostatic regulation, the resulting network structure and activity dynamics exhibit considerable variability across and within studi