The impact of homeostatic inhibitory plasticity in a generative biophysical model
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: A main characteristic of biological systems is their capacity to dynamically adapt to environmental changes. In the brain, synaptic plasticity enables the strengthening or weakening of connections between neurons, allowing neural circuits to adapt based on experience, learning, and environmental changes. Yet, it is homeostatically regulated such that it avoids excessive proliferation of synaptic contacts. These mechanisms can be studied with large-scale models of brain activity. Here, we embed a biologically grounded inhibitory-homeostatic plasticity rule into the Dynamic Mean Field (DMF) model, creating a Homeostatic Dynamic Mean Field (HDMF) model that dynamically tunes local excitation–inhibition balance. Convergence of excitatory firing rates is reached by mapping a large range of coupling strength to parameters of inhibitory synapses. The HDMF reproduces statistical observables of brain activity as well as the original DMF, and can sustain neuromodulatory perturbations without overhead computations. The HDMF can generate unprecedented sleep-like slow-wave activity, which can also coexist with wake-like asynchronous dynamics, permitting to model dissociated states of consciousness such as parasomnias. Together, these results show that a single homeostatic rule broadens the stability and expressiveness of the DMF, providing a unified platform for studying how local adaptive processes shape the diverse global dynamics of the human brain.
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Inserm, Sorbonne Université, Institut du Cerveau, Trinity College Dublin, Adolfo Ibáñez University, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Institute for Cross-Disciplinary Physics and Complex Systems, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Institut national de recherche en sciences et technologies du numérique, Université Côte d'Azur, CRONOS: Modélisation des résaux dynamiques cérébraux, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, McGill University, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, University of San Andrés
Language: English
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7123883983