Simulation of Cortical Functional Area Formation Based on Synaptic Plasticity

In this paper, we provide a model to simulate the cortical functional area formation process based on spike-timing dependent synaptic plasticity (STDP). We put neurons on 2D spherical lattices. The membrane voltage of neuron follows FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) model. The strength of synapse changes according to the activity of pre and post synaptic neurons. Some certain neurons are stimulated by external signals, and others are stimulated by inner noise signal. There are dense and uniform connections between neurons at first, however, spatial pattern of connectivity and cluster of connection, which indicate functional area, emerge at last