Patterns of Spiking Activity of Neuronal Networks in Vitro as Memory Traces

Neuronal cultures in vitro plated on the multi-electrode arrays are very promising as an experimental model to study basic principles of learning that can later motivate development of new artificial cognitive architectures. But it is still an open question if patterns of spontaneous activity in neuronal cultures can be interpreted as memory traces and if these traces can be modified in a learning-like manner. We studied experimentally in vitro development of spontaneous bursting activity in neuronal cultures as well as how this activity changes after open or closed loop stimulation. Results demonstrate that bursting activity of neural networks in vitro self-organize into a few number of stereotypic patterns which remain stable over many days. External electrical stimulation increases a number of simultaneously present activity patterns with majority of bursts still classified as belonging to the dominant cluster.