Multi-scale spiking network model of human cerebral cortex

Cerebral Cortex, vol. 34

Abstract

Although the structure of cortical networks provides the necessary substrate for their neuronal activity, the structure alone does not suffice to understand the activity. Leveraging the increasing availability of human data, we developed a multi-scale, spiking network model of human cortex to investigate the relationship between structure and dynamics. In this model, each area in one hemisphere of the Desikan-Killiany parcellation is represented by a $1\,\mathrm{mm^{2}}$ column with a layered structure. The model aggregates data across multiple modalities, including electron microscopy, electrophysiology, morphological reconstructions, and diffusion tensor imaging, into a coherent framework. It predicts activity on all scales from the single-neuron spiking activity to the area-level functional connectivity. We compared the model activity with human electrophysiological data and human resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. This comparison reveals that the model can reproduce aspects of both spiking statistics and fMRI correlations if the inter-areal connections are sufficiently strong. Furthermore, we study the propagation of a single-spike perturbation and macroscopic fluctuations through the network. The open-source model serves as an integrative platform for further refinements and future in silico studies of human cortical structure, dynamics, and function.

Authors 8

1. Jari Pronold Aachen

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · RWTH Aachen University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) , Jülich Research Centre, D-52428 Jülich ,

   RWTH Aachen University , D-52062 Aachen ,

2. Alexander van Meegen

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · University of Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) , Jülich Research Centre, D-52428 Jülich ,

   Institute of Zoology, University of Cologne , D-50674 Cologne ,

3. Renan O. Shimoura

   Forschungszentrum Jülich

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) , Jülich Research Centre, D-52428 Jülich ,

4. Hannah Vollenbröker

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf , D-40225 Düsseldorf ,

   Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) , Jülich Research Centre, D-52428 Jülich ,

5. Mario Senden

   Maastricht University

   Affiliation as printed

   Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience , Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, , NL-6229 ER Maastricht ,

   Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience , Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, , NL-6229 ER Maastricht ,

   Maastricht University , Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, , NL-6229 ER Maastricht ,

   Maastricht University , Maastricht Brain Imaging Centre, , NL-6229 ER Maastricht ,

6. Claus Christian Hilgetag

   Universität Hamburg · University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Eppendorf, Hamburg University , D-20246 Hamburg ,

7. Rembrandt Bakker

   Radboud University Nijmegen · Forschungszentrum Jülich · Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour

   Affiliation as printed

   Donders Institute for Brain , Cognition and Behavior, , NL-6525 EN Nijmegen ,

   Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) , Jülich Research Centre, D-52428 Jülich ,

   Radboud University Nijmegen , Cognition and Behavior, , NL-6525 EN Nijmegen ,

8. Sacha Jennifer van Albada

   Forschungszentrum Jülich · University of Cologne

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute for Advanced Simulation (IAS-6) , Jülich Research Centre, D-52428 Jülich ,

   Institute of Zoology , University of Cologne, D-50674 Cologne ,