A model of dissociated cortical tissue (original) (raw)

A powerful experimental approach for investigating computation in networks of biological neurons is the use of cultured dissociated cortical cells grown into networks on a multi-electrode array. Such preparations allow investigation of network development, activity, plasticity, responses to stimuli, and the effects of pharmacological agents. They also exhibit whole-culture pathological bursting; understanding the mechanisms that underlie this could allow creation of more useful cell cultures and possibly have medical applications [1, 2]. This paper presents preliminary results of a computational study of the interplay of individual neuron activity, cell culture development, and the network behavior. We investigate whether bursting can occur in an initially unconnected "network" that develops connections according to an experimentally-verified model of cell culture connectivity growth.