Investigation of spatio-temporal dependencies in neuronal functional connectivity

Determining how the functional connectivity in cortical cultures on multi-electrode arrays develops over time can provide new and helpful insight into how cognitive pathways form. This study uses both data- and model-driven approaches to determine what dependencies are present in and between functional connectivity networks derived from bursts of extra-cellularly recorded activity. Two models were used to capture the dynamics of individual functional connections and their consistencies were verified using surrogate data. By comparing network-wide properties between model generated networks and functional networks from data, complex interdependencies were revealed. This indicates the persistent co-activation of neuronal pathways, as can be found in whole brain structures and further supports the use of cortical cultures as a consistent model for neuronal studies.