Neurons that FIRE together, WIRE together

Here is our newest design - inspired by the famous quote “Neurons that fire together, wire together”, this phrase coined by Carla Shatz, who also added later "Fire out of sync and loose your link". Similar theories and ideas were proposed by Donald Hebb, a Canadian neuroscientist.

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“FIRE together” – means that the neurons “fire” action potentials at a similar time. An action potential is a rapid change in membrane potential that means the neuron is “active”. When firing is correlated between two neurons, such that the pre-synaptic neuron (blue neuron here) fires slightly before the post-synaptic neuron (green neuron), it is likely that the pre-synaptic neuron is involved in causing the post-synaptic neuron to fire. This can result in the strengthening of the connection between the two neurons, causing them to “WIRE together”. This is also called “Hebbian” learning.

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Connections that are less effective in inducing firing in the post-synaptic neuron can also be weakened. The ability of synapses to change in response to neuronal activity is referred to as synaptic plasticity. Synaptic plasticity is thought to be critical for our ability to learn and make memories.

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References:

Hebb DO. The Organization of Behavior. 0 ed. Psychology Press, 2005 doi:10.4324/9781410612403.

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Song S, Miller KD, Abbott LF. Competitive Hebbian learning through spike-timing-dependent synaptic plasticity. Nat Neurosci 2000;3:919–926.