Language experience is known to modulate the preattentive processing of linguistically relevant pitch contours when presented in the speech domain. To assess if experience-dependent effects are specific to speech, we evaluated the mismatch negativity response to nonspeech homologs (iterated rippled noise) of such curvilinear pitch contours (Mandarin: Tone 1, 'high level'; Tone 2, 'high rising')...

Synchronized activity in ensembles of neurons recruited by excitatory afferents is thought to contribute to the coding information in the brain. However, the mechanisms by which neuronal ensembles are generated and modified are not known. Here we show that in rat hippocampal slices associative synaptic plasticity enables ensembles of neurons to change by incorporating neurons belonging to diffe...

The receptive field properties of neurons in the developing brain can in many cases be remarkably similar to those of adult neurons. This raises the question of why these same neurons need the capacity for such impressive developmental plasticity, most clearly demonstrated by the rewiring that occurs in response to sensory deprivation. The roles of developmental neuronal plasticity in the assim...

The brain exhibits neuroplasticity, the capacity to be modifiable by experience. Over the last decade there has been an explosion of knowledge in the field of neuroplasticity. New brain stimulation techniques are being designed to enhance neuroplasticity and several neuromodulatory trials are underway to enhance behavioral gains from rehabilitation. An understanding of neuroplasticity is essent...

Social status is a key regulator of health and reproduction in mammals, including humans. Despite this, relatively little is known about how social status influences the mammalian brain. Furthermore, the extent to which status is an independent construct, i.e., not simply acting as a psychosocial stressor, is yet to be determined. Research to date reveals several promising mechanisms and/or sys...

Recent experimental evidence suggests that synaptic plasticity depends on the precise timing of pre- and post-synaptic activity. In this paper, an iterative model for a multiplicative form of this spike-timing-dependent plasticity (mSTDP) is introduced. This model is incorporated into a neural network with many input cells coupled via excitation to a single output cell. Analysis of this network...