On the Maximization of Information Flow Between Spiking Neurons

A feedforward spiking network represents a nonlinear transformation that maps a set of input spikes to a set of output spikes. This mapping transforms the joint probability distribution of incoming spikes into a joint distribution of output spikes. We present an algorithm for synaptic adaptation that aims to maximize the entropy of this output distribution, thereby creating a model for the joint distribution of the incoming point processes. The learning rule that is derived depends on the precise pre- and postsynaptic spike timings. When trained on correlated spike trains, the network learns to extract independent spike trains, thereby uncovering the underlying statistical structure and creating a more efficient representation of the incoming spike trains.