Representational drift without synaptic plasticity.

ABSTRACT: Neural computations support stable behavior despite relying on many dynamically changing biological processes. One such process is representational drift (RD), in which neurons' responses change over the timescale of minutes to weeks, while perception and behavior remain unchanged. Generally, RD is believed to be caused by changes in synaptic weights, which alter individual neurons' tuning properties. Since these changes alter the population readout, they require adaptation of downstream areas to maintain stable function, a costly and non-local problem. Here we propose that much of the observed drift phenomena can be explained by a simpler mechanism: changes in the excitability of cells without changes in synaptic weights. We show that such excitability changes can change the apparent tuni

SUBMITTER: Haimerl C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12324200 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature