Experimental analysis of neuronal dynamics in cultured cortical networks and transitions between different patterns of activity.

Experimental investigation of the dynamics of biological networks is a fundamental step towards understanding how the nervous system works. Spontaneous activity in cultured networks of cortical neurons has been investigated by using a multisite recording technique with planar electrode arrays. In these networks, the spatiotemporal firing patterns were studied in the presence of different extracellular solutions. Transitions from asynchronous firing dynamics to synchronous firing dynamics were observed when the extracellular Ca2+ concentration was increased from 0.1 mM to 1 mM. Addition of extracellular Mg2+ reduced the spontaneous activity at any Ca2+ concentration, and an increase in the extracellular K+ concentration enhanced the frequency of periodical synchronous bursts. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA glutamate receptor antagonists inhibited synchronous activity. A spatiotemporal analysis of the data has been performed, and the properties of the network such as the synchronization and the periodicity have been quantified in order to clarify how variations of intrinsic parameters of the network can induce structural transitions in the neural dynamics. This experimental study is a possible approach to investigate the computational properties of a neuronal network.