STIMULUS-DEPENDENT SYNCHRONIZATION OF NEURONAL ASSEMBLIES

We study theoretically how an interaction between assemblies of neuron al oscillators can be modulated by the pattern of external stimuli. It is shown that spatial variations in the stimuli can control the magni tude and phase of the synchronization between the output of neurons wi th different receptive fields. This modulation emerges from cooperativ e dynamics in the network, without the need for specialized, activity- dependent synapses. Our results further suggest that the modulation of neuronal interactions by extended features of a stimulus may give ris e to complex spatiotemporal fluctuations in the phases of neuronal osc illations.